


Heart of fire Eyes of steel

by Chibbstick



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 03:39:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1883952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibbstick/pseuds/Chibbstick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto is an aspiring young Ninja with a fate larger than anyone else. To many he is a Demon, but to some he is a great friend and a boy with a Heart of Fire and Eyes of Steel</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer Just in case  
> Me no owny Naruto

Heart of Fire

Eyes of Steel

 

It's coming closer, even as the villages Ninja fight and die to slow its advance, the nine-tailed fox: the Kyuubi ploughs further into the village walls.

Thoughts where racing through Minato's head, he had been trying to think of an alternative way to stop the fox but he simply couldn't think straight.

He would have to sacrifice himself and possibly the future of even his new-born son Naruto, all for the sake of the village.

His brow creased in worry and once again a tear graced his cheek. He had already lost Kushina, having the Kuubi ripped out of its seal straight after childbirth had weakened her too much.

He had dealt with the death hard, but he had to keep up his steely facade just a little longer, for both his son and the village.

"The village…" Minato murmured to himself "how much more must be sacrificed until we can live in piece…until I can live in peace" he turned to the mantelpiece where a small photo rested against the wall, cracked and broken from the conflict that had occurred earlier, when the masked man had attacked his house and attempted to use his own son against him as leverage-a cowards tactic.

Minato brushed the shards of glass out of the way carefully with his hand, and liberated the brightly coloured photo from the teeth of glass that lay inside the dangerous photo-frame, the shards nipping hungrily at his skin.

He pulled it out of the frame and brushed a finger across the picture. It was of him and what remained of his genin team along with his very pregnant wife.

 

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*Flashback*

That day had been very happy, Kakashi had agreed that he would tutor Minato's son just as he had tutored him. He also agreed to look out for little Naruto after he was born, they had decided on the name then and there.

Kakashi at that point had simply said out loud, "What is the best side with ramen" as he sat in Ichiraku Ramen with his sensei.

Both Minato and Kushina had both been brought straight out of their deliberations over a name to shout: "Naruto!" loudly in unison before looking at each other and laughing long and hard.

They had managed to calm down a little by the time Jiraiya had ran in with an idea for the name.

"You should call him Naruto!" he said "You both enjoy ramen enough, and I thought what better way to get him off to a flying start than naming him after the best ramen side ever, I mean, come on Minato, you and Kushina are ramen-a-holics anyway, I doubt anyone would even bat an eyelid…even if it is strange…well, what d'ya think?!" he looked around eagerly at the stunned faces surrounding him, even the young Copy-Nin had an air of bewilderment about him.

The silence lasted a full seven seconds, after which the couple burst out laughing again-even Kakashi thought it was hilarious. Jiraiya blinked a few times and looked between them again before standing straight and crossing his arms strongly with a pout on his face. "Well fine, if you think it's such a stupid idea then I guess I'd like you hear your ideas".

The smiles on the couple's faces though said it all and Jiraiya found himself smirking again. "No Sensei you've got it all wrong" he managed to squeeze out between chuckles. "Yes Jiraiya-san, I love the idea" said Kushina, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "and damn right he will like ramen if it's the first thing I will teach him as a mother!" she had shouted with her hand slamming the bar with a pout plastered on her face.

*End*

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minato rubbed another tear off the picture before, pocketing it quickly and taking out one of Jiraiya's old notebooks, from the only remaining shelf in the house the remained attached to the wall. He also located a pen and slowly began to write his last will and testament, as well as his last words to his first and only son.

 

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Hiruzen Sarutobi wiped his brow of sweat as he consorted with his old team mates. D

anzo was practically breathing down his neck-trying to make him feel guilty for disbanding the root division of shinobi he had headed, trying to make him think they would have been of use here. But deep down he knew that Danzo knew as well as he did that numbers meant nothing in this fight.

The Kuubi had already ploughed through over half the city and was moving on to the largest concentration of resistance.

"Genma!" called the Sandamie

"Yes Sarutobi-sama?" he replied with well repeated grace, his eyes ready for the orders that where bound to come next.

"Get a message out to the remaining shinobi force to pull back to the outside of the village and hold the nine-tails there and wait for the Yondamie to intervene. Minato has a plan for the Kuubi that will end its rampage, but it is imperative that it doesn't get any further into the village. We MUST protect the remaining villagers if the will of fire is to prevail here! Can I trust you with this task my friend?" finished the Sandamie Hokage, the steel in his resolve evident. "Of course Sarutobi-sama, it shall be done"

Hiruzen nodded before he turned away from the retreating form of Genma and turned back to the battle at hand. Where was Minato, where was the fourth?

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minato was panting heavily, the sounds of battle a sombre ambiance in the background of the leaf.

He had run all the way from his house on the outskirts of the leaf, back into the heart of the village as quickly as he could.

He would have tried to use his Flying Thunder God to get back in a flash, but he was holding baby Naruto and using the Hirashin for the first time gave most people a headache, followed closely by vomiting their guts up, so naturally he did not wish to subject his son to that.

As well as this, all of his special tri-pronged kunai had been destroyed by the beast's rampage.

As he made his way to the foot of the Hokage tower, or what was left of it and bit his thumb and making the hand signs for a summoning.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he called into the chilled night air.

He slammed his palm to the ground and found himself stood atop Gamabunta, the boss summon of the toads.

"Minato you little squirt, what do you want I was right in the middle of-"

Gamabunta stopped suddenly and looked out over the devastation that had been wrought about the leaf village.

"Oh my…Minato boy…what-"

"Kuubi is loose 'Bunta and it is under the control of an Uchiha nukenin, I need you to get me to it and hold it in place for as long as you can" he said, the large toad nodded its head in response before raiding what could be passed for an amphibious eyebrow.

"But Minato-if the Kuubi is loose, what about Kushina is she all right? "the toad asked, concern tinging his voice.

Minato looked away and whipped a tear from his eye.

"She is gone 'Bunta, the un-sealing took too much of a toll on her" he paused for a minute and wiped a couple more tears that came before speaking again.

"But it's okay though, I will fix this as much as I can." Minato smiled lightly

"I have managed to seal what remained of Kushina's chakra into this scroll" he lifted a large red and black summoning scroll to illustrate his plan.

"I plan to re-seal the Kuubi using the reaper death seal using Naruto as the host. I will seal what I can of both my own and Kushina's chakra into him as well so we can help him when he needs us most"

Gamabunta's eyes widened at what his summoner just told him.

"Think about what you are doing Minato!" he yelled

"You would kill yourself this early on? Your village needs you!"

Gamabunta shook his huge head strongly, adjusting the pipe in his mouth.

"On top of that, you would sacrifice the childhood of your own son as well? You have heard Kushina's story, as have I, it was a hollow existence! Do you really wish that for your child?"

Minato didn't answer straight away his eyes where glazed over and a smile lingered on his face.

"He is my son 'Bunta, he will pull through" he turned to the large amphibian before smiling his foxy grin.

"I believe in him completely that he will be able to pull through and do the right thing, he must, just as I must do this to both protect the village, and Naruto himself from my enemies"

"Naruto 'eh? Even his name screams Hokage's son" Gamabunta's face took on a look of doubt.

Minato nodded solemnly.

"But it is what Kushina wanted" he smiled before lifting his head to the boss toad.

"I do have one request of you however" he paused waiting for the toad to nod, which he inevitably did before continuing.

"When he is old enough, will you allow him to sign the summoning contract 'Bunta?"

Gamabunta's face took on a look of amusement before he laughed out loud.

"Of course boy, why ever would I decline his birth right?"

Minato smiled contently before standing back up. He had slowly sat down without noticing it after summoning Gamabunta, he was strangely relaxed, even though he knew he was about to die. The Reaper death seal required you to summon the Shinigami into this plane of existence to do a task for you. If your deal was satisfactory, it would complete this task in payment for your soul which would naturally kill you.

He took a deep breath, ready in both body and soul to meet with the death god.

"Let's get going 'Bunta"

The huge toad nodded once again and he pushed his strong back legs to the ground and sprung towards the Kuubi, ready to do battle.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sandamie was relieved to see the large amphibian appear in one of the side streets of the village. It meant the Yondaime was here, it meant hope- If anyone could defeat the Kyuubi, it was him.

His smile dropped however when he saw the toad boss with Minato atop his colossal head leap towards the Kyuubi at full speed. What was Minato thinking taking the Kyuubi head on? If the entire villages shinobi couldn't stop it, then no one man no matter how powerful should be able to stop it.

Hiruzen found himself sighing deeply in thought at the prospect. Minato had done the impossible before; he could no doubt do it again.

"Captain!" he called out suddenly, an Anbu captain landing gracefully next to him.

"You orders sir!" he called out, his team forming up behind him.

"Bring your squad and gather the clan heads, I want them with me in five minutes-we are going after Minato and will provide any backup that we can. He has a plan that much is certain and we shall be as much a use as we can, sitting idly by just won't do!" he finished with a stern shake of his head.

"Sir!" he repeated and leapt off in the direction of the nearest clan compound.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minato and Gamabunta had reached the Kyuubi and in one jump 'Bunta tackled the Kyuubi to the ground while Minato jumped down beside it and began to unravel the scroll and unseal the ritual pieces and place them accordingly.

A thick sheen of sweat covered his brow; he didn't think he would be so tired. The fight earlier had taken much more out of him than he had first thought, as well as that, he had slowly been sealing his chakra away into the scroll for use in the sealing, tiring to be sure.

He heard the sudden poof of pressurised air and smoke filled the clearing, as the Kyuubi's teeth tore out the shoulder of the toad boss and Minato's eyes widened in fear as 'Bunta dissapeared.

'We aren't ready yet, god, Kami-a miracle would be lovely right now please!' he thought to himself.

Just as if from Kami herself, the third Hokage and the clan heads as well as an Anbu squad burst through the clearing and began to assault the Kyuubi with reckless abandon.

"Minato!" shouted the third as he sprinted up to his side but found himself blocked from approaching.

"Minato what is all this, why can't I get to you?" the Sandamie raised his eyebrow in bemusement for a second, but the look on the fourths face said it all.

"Minato boy...Y-you aren't going to use...that are you?" he said, a pleading tone to his already quivering voice.

"It's the only way Hiruzen, my wife is dead, my village in ruins. The last thing I can do for this village and it's people is to preserve the balance and stop this from happening again"

His vision shifted to his son. "He will be my legacy, my son, these peoples hero, and someone who I believe will become strong enough to deal with the masked man I faced earlier. The very same who released the Kyuubi and almost fought me to a standstill"

He smiled warmly at his son and knelt down to place a single hand on his sons forehead "I will believe in him and pass on my will of fire, look after him Hiruzen-or I might just come back to haunt you" he smiled one last time before his face became one of concentration and he stood with all of the strength and power that the Yondaime commanded.

He flared his chakra and made the necessary hand signs and shouted into the night-sky something that got even the Kyuubi's attention.

"Reaper Death Seal!"

The Kyuubi's eyes widened as he looked towards the tiny human, the mate of his previous host and saw the menacing form of the Shinigami towering over him with a look of hunger in his black pupil less eyes.

"NO!" roared the Kyuubi before turning quickly and charging towards the child lead on the floor who was clearly to be his next host.

"I WILL NOT BE SEALED AGAIN HUMAN!" its booming voice echoed.

"Crap!" thought Minato as he gave the Shinigami the 'go-ahead' to start the sealing process. A long shadowy arm went though his chest and straight into the fox that was now stopped dead in its tracks.

It slowly began to struggle and minutely so began to descend its gigantic clawed paw towards baby Naruto's face.

"No!" began Minato as be began to get ready to jump in front of the claw but surprisingly a huge hand came out of nowhere and took the claw straight through its palm.

Choza Akimichi grunted from the sidelines and grabbed hold of the Kyuubi's leg and tried to restrain him as best he could.

Minato could only watch and grit his teeth as the slowly the arm began to 'float' at a snail's pace back towards baby Naruto, overweighed by the huge weight of chakra contained within.

Blood dripped down rhythmically onto baby Naruto's head and he slowly began to open his eyes.

What he first saw with his eyes though, no one should have to see.

In his vision was the entirety of the Kyuubi in all of its malice, hatred and evil staring right at him, with a savage look in its eyes and its colossal grin of razor sharp teeth glowering down on him.

Naruto didn't even make a sound. He just stared straight ahead in terror.

"Seal!" called Minato, and he dropped quickly to knees, his breath heaving. He fell onto his back and grunted before holding his hand up.

"Hiruzen" Minato started his voice hoarse and cracked "Please, bring me Naruto quickly. I already don't feel my fingers…I'm starting to fade"

The third quickly ushered off to bring Naruto to his dying father but returned with a panicked and worried expression on his face.

"Minato…he won't stop trembling, I tried wrapping him in my coat, but he just won't stop. Do you know what could be wrong with him?"

Minato looked at the trail of blood down his sons face and his eyes sagged significantly as what happened clicked in his brilliant mind.

"He saw it Hiruzen, the Kuubi it looked right at him with that feral hunger in its eyes" a tear pricked at the corner of Minato's eyes.

"I pray I have done the right thing Hiruzen...for all of us" Minato kissed Naruto softly on the forehead and their eyes slowly began to droop in unison.

"I hope you can forgive me...Naruto...s-son..."

And with that, Minato Namizake breathed his last with the fate of his son left in the hands of a bunch of fickle, judgemental men and a few decent fellows. Everything would work out... right?


	2. 2

Chapter 2

-Nine years later-

Naruto sighed for the fourth time; the orphanage matron had begun shouting again. It always happened, every Friday evening like clockwork.

After visiting hours had ended at around six o'clock or so, she would leave the building as quickly as possible and make a b-line straight to the nearest sake den.

But of course, not before giving the 'demon child' her remaining chores for the night.

He would scrub every floor in the house and polish every boot, sort every book in the on site library, you name it.

If she came back and he hadn't done them, he would get beaten black and blue.

'I wonder what she actually DOES do during the day...' Naruto wondered.

'Stupid lousy Matron' he thought 'why If I could speak...ugh who am I kidding nothing would change'.

Fifth sigh.

Naruto never could work it out but he never could speak. Try as he might, he stood there beside the other forty or so other children, watched them talk to each other and laugh more often than not at him. But he just couldn't, it was a mystery to him.

Another point of interest crossed his mind as well, the old man.

The Hokage hadn't come to visit him in some time, days passed into weeks, weeks into months. Naruto had actually scratched the days into his walls, along with his hopes.

'Three months sixteen days...where are you old man'

Naruto's eyes began to water and he quickly wiped them away, lest the others catch wind.

The other orphans would often use the Matrons distaste of him to get a few free hits in.

Naruto being an un-naturally fast healer meant that they could beat him ragged to vent their frustrations, after which they would then lock him in the store cupboard. By the time the Matron would let him out, the cuts and bruises would have healed and he would be in trouble for a number of mysteriously disappearing items.

'And now she returns, at least I was able to get the last room all done this time'.

Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow and slipped down the wall with the mop not far behind.

He could hear banging from the main entrance, she was shouting for him and Naruto wasn't so sure that he wanted to go to her.

'If I stay I'm screwed and if I go to her I am also screwed...great' sixth sigh 'I guess it's better if I get it over with now when the others aren't around or they'd join in'.

Naruto wobbled to his feet and took a deep breath before walking down the hallway to the front door where the matron had haphazardly hung her coat on the rack one peg too low leaving her pristine violet coat to lap up the dust he would inevitably missed.

"Demon!" she shouted as he approached her "have you done as I asked or have you been busy skiving as usual 'eh?".

Naruto's brow creased, he had never 'skived' he was always just taking a lunch break but apparently she didn't see it that way.

"Well then speak you rotten boy!" the matron then raised her eye brows and began hooting with laughter before slapping Naruto around the face hard

"Laugh boy, it's funny!" her face suddenly turned feral "Just like the irony of letting the monster that made all of the children inside this building orphans live among them".

She grasped him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground with Naruto flailing his arms around fruitlessly.

"You know what Demon?" she brought her arm back, the door still wide open "my rope has finally reached its end!" she threw him with all the strength her alcohol fuelled muscles could muster onto the street "The Hokage be damned Kyuubi brat if you ever show your face around here again, I will personally beat you and lock you in the cellar until people forget about you!"

She then proceeded to slam the door in his face and her loud laughs could still be heard by Naruto, now a crumpled mess on the other side of the door.

 

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It hurt, it hurt badly.

He had landed on his arm at a strange angle and every time he moved it more tears would add to the already ample amount of tears pooling at his knees.

Every time he tried to stand the gravity pulling on his unsupported arm would make his arm feel like it was on fire.

He couldn't even call out for help, and everyone who passed either spat at him or walked straight on sending him an angry glare or curse.

'Damn it' he kept repeating in his mind 'damn it, damn it, damn it!'.

He grimaced again and supported his whole arm with the other before trying again.

'Gahhh...slightly...better'

He continued to ascend and lent against the buildings gateposts for added support, a thick sheen of sweat that rivalled the one he had on him not twenty minutes ago inside the compound.

'Why?' Naruto began to wonder 'Why does everyone hate me so much, what did I ever do?'.

Naruto began to move slowly and began the long trudge to where he remembered the Hokage's tower to be.

 

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Hiruzen Sarutobi the third Hokage stood once more on his hourly five minute break to stretch his old back.

The Fourths death had shook him, and he had quickly been forced back into the seat of Hokage, even though there was many other Ninja, younger Ninja that would have maybe fulfilled the role better-he had to take the seat again.

The council had said that his experience would be able to stabilise the nation after its time of tragedy surrounding the death of Minato and his wife Kushina as well as the re-sealing of the Kyuubi after its attack against the leaf.

"Oh Minato" he wondered aloud "You left me in a world of troubles my friend, and I was just about ready to retire" he sighed heavily and turned ready to sit his aging behind back down on the remarkably good looking, and yet strangely uncomfortable seat, to resume the completion of a Hokage's greatest enemy: paperwork.

 

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Naruto had just reached the doors to the Hokage tower, when he realised that he had to actually talk to someone before getting to see the Hokage, and the look on the secretary's face said anything but 'go right in'.

She hated his presence there, and that was all there was to it.

He blinked at her sudden change of mood as soon as someone else came in; she was all smiles and bubbly with them, politely asking them to 'take a seat please' before sending a message to the Hokage telling him that they had arrived. She had done no such thing for him.

"Sit down brat, he will see you when he see's you and if you don't like that you can just leave can't you?" she had said before shoving him roughly towards the musty chair round the corner so she wouldn't have to look at him.

Tears had threatened to fall once again, but he managed the keep the flood gates in check, but for how much longer he wondered.

A group of men numbering around fifteen or so came through the door asking for the Hokage.

Naruto noticed a couple of them, there were the three heads of the partner clans; the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka as well as a couple of other members of the more influential clans such as the Hyuuga and the Uchiha.

'They must be here to visit the old man' Naruto thought, his eyes beginning to water again 'well I guess I'll be waiting here even longer'.

They had finished signing in and began to make a move towards his corner to take the stairs up to the Hokages office when Inoichi and Shikaku stopped to look at Naruto who had since turned around to look at the floor.

"Hey there kid, what you doing here?" asked Inoichi.

"Yeah shouldn't you still be back at the orphanage, it's pretty damn late you know?" said Shikaku.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore and he hunched lower, grasping his throbbing arm and his tears began to drip rhythmically onto the floor.

Shikaku and Inoichi were taken back by this and the latter glared at the former whilst shaking his head strongly.

"Shikaku why did you have to go and say that you idiot?".

"Hey I didn't mean anything by it, I'm sorry kid real-".

It was then that the two noticed Naruto's hand on his arm and the two crouched down beside him, the others suddenly becoming aware that the two where no longer with them and crowded around him, some with looks of malcontent and others with looks of worry.

"Naruto" began Inoichi "let me have a look at that okay? I won't hurt you I promise I'm just going to see if you are all right?".

Naruto sniffed and slowly lifted his hand off of his arm and allowed him to inspect it.

In the back of the group, the Hyuuga head Hiashi Hyuuga and Fugaku Uchiha where bickering as usual, but certainly not over the usual things.

"Look at the demon, pathetic. We should have just killed it the moment Sarutobi came back" said Fugaku with a shake of his head, the Hyuuga head did not look too pleased with his train of thought

"I see Fugaku, then if it where your son the fox was sealed in, should we have killed him straight out as well?" asked Hiashi with his brow raised, the lack of answer from the Uchiha head pointed his loss on this argument.

"Fine" said Fugaku finally "I still have no idea why the boy is being so pathetic, why doesn't he just show him his arm properly rather than keep trying to pull away?".

Hiashi simply looked at him shocked before sighing heavily.

"However did you become a father Fugaku?" he said, and rather that waiting for an answer he nodded at Naruto.

"Even without my Byakugan I can tell a dislocated elbow when I see one, and you don't just dislocate that by accident. No, he was clearly attacked today and if he is not in the orphanage it obviously means it was someone there and now he refuses to go back there" he shook his head before carrying on "I mean look at him Fugaku the boy is clearly terrified, he thinks that Inoichi is trying to hurt him".

"Ugh" replied Fugaku "Your so soft Hyuuga, my heart bleeds for the boy" He shook his head "Well you lot can flutter around this brat as much as you please but I am going upstairs for the reason we came here" he began to make his way to the stairs, a few of the bunch began to join him.

Hiashi waited until they had gone "Stuck up prick" he muttered under his breath "I wonder how far behind him I was until I found Hana" he sighed lightly and the others remaining chuckled at what they heard.

Inoichi was frowning however "Naruto, I am afraid that your arm is dislocated at the elbow, and to put it back it will hurt a lot, okay?" Naruto's lip wobbled and he nodded slightly

Hiashi approached Naruto and knelt down beside him with a small smile on his face.

Naruto recoiled a little bit which made him wince in pain and Hiashi put a single hand on Naruto's knee to comfort him.

"It is okay Naruto, my name is Hiashi" he continued "I can help you out in this regard, I can use the gentle fist of the Hyuuga to painlessly disable the chakra points n your arm okay? This will numb the pain a little bit, but not completely. Do you want to me to try?".

Naruto nodded shallowly and bowed his head to him in respect.

Hiashi smiled at this and patted his knee again "No need for that boy".

He raised his hand and poked his arm in random intervals along his arm.

Naruto had noticed that while he did this his eyes looked frightening and the veins around his eyes stood out from his skin.

'What is that?' Naruto wondered 'is he sick?'.

Hiashi finished up and stood back.

'wow' thought Naruto 'my arm is like...all tingly'.

"Okay Naruto" said Inoichi "This is still going to hurt, are you ready?".

Naruto nodded fiercely and gritted his teeth hard.

Inoichi then grabbed his arm and pushed it back into its socket forcefully.

The pain was terrible Naruto shuddered and fresh tears dripped onto his knees as he hunched over, but he didn't cry out, how could he?.

 

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Hiruzen Sarutobi had just finished his last stack of paperwork for the evening, he had thought at first that the rest of the night would be peaceful and quiet, how wrong he was.

The entire villages' clan heads had congregated in his office, well half of them anyway.

"Lord Hokage" started Fugaku Uchiha "let us start the meeting without them, they are all down their fussing over nothing, and we can inform them later anyhow let us not waste any more time on this" he stated, his foot tapping an impatient rhythm into the floorboards.

The Hokages eyebrow creased with intrigue.

"What may I ask is this 'nothing' you left them fussing over Fugaku, surely it is not merely nothing to warrant almost half of the clan heads delaying their appointment with the Hokage over such important matters as 'clan politics'" he said with a tinge of amusement.

The Uchiha head frowned but refused to say anything, which got the Hokage looking around the room for the answer.

"Well, will anyone tell me or do I have to bloody well threaten you with light counts of treason and hurting my good mood?" the Hokage smirked at them.

"Hah" Fugaku snorted "Fine, its Uzumaki okay?" Fugaku shook his head as the Hokage gained a confused look on his.

"Naruto?" he stood "Is he okay, why is he out of the orphanage at this time?".

Fugaku could offer nothing but a shrug and a sneer.

"Beats me, perhaps he ran away. Or perhaps he finally cracked, who knows?" Fugaku ended with a hollow chuckle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood and gave the Uchiha head a glare which bored into his skull, which Fugaku happily returned, their lack of agreement on any matter concerning the boy evident.

This meeting is postponed until further notice, while you are busy jerking me around trying to get this pointless meeting with me I have to run a damn village and watch as this villages greatest prodigy gets his legacy smeared into the dirt by the likes of you Fugaku, so it is time for me to return the favour" he turned to the other clan heads assembled in the room "I apologise but it seems that I do not as of yet have the drive or the patience for a full evening of pointless squabbling so until that time please return home, I will notify you when I will be ready for such an undertaking thank you".

There were a few instances of hushed whispering but they quickly stopped as the congregation filed out of the Hokages office.

Fugaku however remained until last, all the while locked in a fierce eye battle with the Hokage before ushering a massively pretentious line.

"Your getting on old man, perhaps it is time to hand that hat down to someone a little more suited to the job hmm? Perhaps someone who will not die in the first few months, I mean if your skill is the same as your judge of charic-" he was cut off suddenly when a gargantuan fist slammed into his chest sending him into the far fall of the office, after which he found he could not move to defend himself.

"You dare say another word about lord forth Uchiha and I will paint the walls with you scumbag!" an un-natural feeling of anger had overtaken the Akimichi head as he walked through the door to see his equivalent in the Uchiha clan badmouthing the greatest Shinobi the leaf and ever produced.

"Choza calm yourself, please. Mister Nara, would you kindly release Fugaku so that he may scramble from my office if you please?".

"Of course Lord Hokage" the pair ground through their teeth and did as he said.

Fugaku slid down the wall a little before pushing off and hobbling towards the door with all haste, stopping at the door to send one final glare at everyone in the room before departing.

The Hokage let out a breath he did not realise he was holding and gestures for them to come over to him.

"I apologise Lord Hokage" started Shikaku "Just to see him badmouth Minato that way makes me frankly more than a little bit pissed off" he shook his head

"I'm afraid I cannot say the same Sarutobi" Choza shook his large head "He needed to be put in his place, his ego is getting ever bigger and honestly seems to think he has a shot at Hokage with that attitude" Choza sighed and scratched his head with one meaty paw.

Sarutobi sighed and drummed a little tune into the desk before sitting up straighter "At least he left without a fuss after all of that or 'more paperwork hoe!'" this brought a chuckle from the two heads and he placed his hands together on the desk as he face took on a more serious tone.

"Now then, where is Naruto boy?".

Inoichi nodded slightly and went back outside the room for a second before returning with Naruto, the boy looked indeed horrible, his skin was paler than usual and his arm was in a make-shift sling that was made from what seemed to be the curtain material from the hallway.

Naruto approached the Hokage with his head down.

'Odd...' thought Sarutobi 'He would usually be bouncing now, regardless of the injury'.

As Naruto reached the desk the Hokage brought a hand to his shoulder of his un-injured arm and spoke to him in a fatherly tone.

"Naruto my boy, what happened to you" his eyes soothing Naruto's nerves while he handed over to him a slip of paper and a small pencil, the ability to write being the first thing that he had taught the boy, being the only way he could properly communicate he had thought it prudent to at least sat the boy up with some way of 'talking'.

Naruto sniffed and his eyes began to water while he picked up the pen and wrote down the single thing that had been bothering him, more than even his arm, for the last few months.

'Where have you been?' it simply read.

Sarutobi closed his eyes before he took a single deep breath.

"I'm afraid my boy that I have no good answer for you that I can give at this moment" he opened his eyes "But I do want you to know, that it was all to benefit you. Please understand that I never thought that it would take quite so long to do what I had to, but in the end it may have been worth it. Only time will tell however, so we will just have to bide our time" he smiled warmly at Naruto.

The others in the room looked at each other for a minute before all shrugging in unison.

"Now then, are you going to tell me what happened?".

Naruto sniffed again and began to write.

'The old woman at the Orphanage came home drunk again after setting me all of her days jobs around the building' everyone in the rooms brows drew together at the mention of what was essentially slave labour.

'She threw me out after calling me koobi something and when I hit the floor I hurt my arm and made my way to you, but I wasn't sure you would want to see me...'

Sarutobi and the others in the room got a very worried look on each of their faces and Sarutobi made a mental note to send Anbu at a later date to arrest the women for breaking his little law pertaining the Kyuubi and Naruto.

"Hmm..." breathed the old Hokage as he carefully inspected Naruto's slinged arm more closely, after which he nodded at Inoichi with a smile.

"Thank you Inoichi, your random little skills still surprise me my friend".

The Yamanaka heir chuckled slightly.

He had always been known to take up odd practices from time to time, running his own florists was the latest, and it was going quite successfully as well.

"Naruto" started the Hokage "Would you like to stay with me tonight, and tomorrow we can figure out some accomidation" he paused when he saw the look on his face he placed his hand comfortingly on his shoulder again "Far away from anyone like the matron my boy, do not worry, I will not make that mistake again I promise you that".

Naruto's expression seemed to soften a bit but did not entirely dissolve.

"I think I can help with that" said a voice from the door, everyone looked towards the entrance and there stood Hiashi Hyuuga in all his robed glory "I applogise from having to disappear earlier Inoichi, but I had to inform the elders of the meetings postponement before I could come with you".

Inoichi just waved it off "No problem Hiashi, but what is this you are talking about. How can you help?" he asked intrigued

"Well" he started "I believe that I can offer the young Uzumaki residence by the Hyuuga compound, it would be paid for by until he was to get a job or wage of his own. Think of it as paying off a debt I owed" he stated, a small smile grew on all of the faces present but Naruto, who was sporting an even bigger one.

"Indeed" replied the Hokage "Looks like that much is sorted now, we can talk of the specifics come tomorrow".

The Hyuuga head nodded his agreement.

"Now then Naruto, why don't you try and get some sleep on the chair over there in the corner, it is a mighty comfy piece of furniture and I think you could really use it with what has happened to you this evening" said the Hokage, worry creasing his brow.

Naruto winced at the mention of sleep and paused before walking to the Hokage's desk and picking up the pen once more.

'I still can't sleep old man; I've still not been able to get more than a few minutes each time'.

The Hokage waited on more as it looked like Naruto was going to continue but when he didn't, he did not press for anymore.

"Trouble sleeping Naruto?" asked Inoichi "I could try and help you with tha-"

"Absolutely not" said the Hokage in a stern voice.

Both Naruto and the others in the room looked shocked at the Hokage who continued.

"He will get over it in time, it is just a thing that happens when you are young my boy" he said before turning with the others, shooting them a glance that said 'I'll slap you' if they pressed the issue any more.

"Now then Naruto" said the Hokage while standing "I will leave you here in my office for some peace and quiet while I deal with matters considering your housing okay?".

Naruto paused for a second before nodding his acknowledgement.

'No way that the only reason the old man won't let old man Yamanaka help me' he thought with a frown before making a straight for the chair, which surprisingly was just as comfy as the old man had had said.

Sarutobi made a hasty exit from the room with the others and made good his promise on allowing Naruto some quiet time.

 

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Once outside the building the Hokage turned to those assembled and began to pack his pipe that he had brought with him from his office.

"Inoichi" he began "you will regrettably have to refrain from offering such help to Naruto in the foreseeable future" he looked about them "We all know what happened with the boy upon his birth, and of the burden his holds" they all seemed to breath out at that point.

"Well then, you should know how risky it is for you to attempt to jump into a body that also houses a second consciousness. Anything could happen, worst case scenario is that it could kill you while you are in there, we both know that your Jutsu has its flaws when the user knows how to combat it, and what he holds has had a damn long-time working out ways of combating Ninja" he took a drag on his newly lit pipe and blew a stream of smoke between them all, eyeing them all each for a time before speaking again.

"Anyway on to lighter topics, Naruto will be starting the Ninja academy in just under a years time, as he has expressed a large desire to do so and I find nothing wrong with that at all. I assume there is no disagreement here?".

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good, well then. My wife will be angry that I am hours late for our meal once again, but I guess needs must as Kami drives".

A chuckle sounded from the heads as Sarutobi tipped his hat to them before turning around to head home.

"Good evening gentlemen" and with that they all set off on their separate ways to their clan compounds.

Meanwhile the toad Sanin Jiraiya and the slug princess Tsunade stood on the same street, unaware of each other's presence, watching the exchange of the heads and thought about what they had in store for their little god son in the near future.


	3. 3

Chapter 3

-Nine months later-

Naruto had been getting ready for some time, his inability to sleep left him with a lot of free time, time he used well by sneaking into the library in the centre of Konoha and studying Jutsu or training physically.

Sometimes he would even go visit the old man, but that had slowed down again after the incident with the orphanage.

'Wonder if he really meant it' Naruto thought as he brushed his teeth 'Is what he is doing really THAT important that he couldn't even take me out for an evening like he used to?'

Naruto sighed, quickly regretting it as he sprayed his mirror with a thin cloud of toothpaste.

Frowning, he grabbed a nearby towel and attempted to relieve the mirror of the sticky substance but try as he might, all it did was smudge.

He promptly gave up with the towel, simply wetting his hand and wiping the mirror first seemed the best option.

When he had finished brooding about the Hokage he remembered the reason why he was sprucing up so early in the first place.

The Academy started today.

Finally what he had been waiting for as long as he could remember. He got to meet new people, start a career that he thought he would be rather good at, at least it would be one that would bring him closer to his dream: to become the Hokage.

The current Hokage had sat him down at one point and tried to explain the concept to him once he had made it clear that he had originally wanted the position to make himself become noticed and loved by everyone.

What the Hokage told him had shaken him.

The simple fact was that he was young, he had misunderstood the concept of the Hokages, but once he had the Hokage explain it to him he had made a decision.

He wouldn't be disheartened, the old man had told him that strength had come from the will of fire-the desire to protect, and he felt that he could uphold that.

He had seen the horrors of the world first hand, and wished no one to have to go through themselves.

He made his way into his bedroom through his small apartment on the Hyuuga estate and began to get changed into his new clothes that the old man had helped him procure.

But this time, it was not the orange smeared old jumpsuit that everyone had come accustomed to seeing him in around the village.

No, this was a brand new outfit, and this was to be a surprise for everyone.

The Hokage was adamant that he get a new change of clothes for the academy, stating that

"If you want to be a Ninja my boy you have to dress like one, I am afraid such a bold outfit will only get you killed in the field as such a bright colour could give your position away from here to Iwa"

Naruto was sceptical at first, but after violently waking up one evening after slipping away from exhaustion, seeing his jumpsuit almost glowing in the moonlight across the room had sealed the deal.

The Hokage had taken him out some weeks ago looking for some clothes, where the shop clerks would reject Naruto's patronage, if he was accompanying the Hokage they wouldn't dare speak out against him. They would even give him a forced sickly looking smile.

Bastards the lot of them.

He made a mental note to scrub out his tendency to write down his bad language, as his inability to speak had left him a bit of a potty hand, wanted to express more than he could in as little words as possible.

But he couldn't do that at the academy, no he wanted people to look out for him, to be friends with him.

A friend would be nice.

His mind drifted to the girl he had met the week prior and a smile unconsciously drifted across his face as he exited his front door and turned his key with the smiley face engraved in it to lock his apartment door.

As he turned, he inhaled a breath of the morning air.

Even though air was air, it seemed that this particular air that surrounded the whole of the Hyuuga estate was stale and plain.

Frankly he had tried explaining this feeling to the Hokage, who proceeded to look at him funny.

Naruto made his way down the stairs that led up to his one floor apartment and made his way on his practiced route, ruggedly determined to get to the academy at least ten minutes early.

 

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Hinata Hyuuga woke slowly, opening her eyes a little at a time. Getting accustomed to the sun's rays she sat up in her bed and proceeded to stretch for a record breaking time.

Sighing she slipped to the side of the bed and quickly got to her personal bathroom to get cleaned up.

"Well, I guess today is the day huh?" she spoke softly to herself

Hinata had been tentative about today; previously she had been lead to believe that today would be a great day, a start of a new stage in life.

She wasn't so sure.

Hinata had always been a shy and quiet girl and the mere thought of having to sit in a room full of strangers was a foreign concept to her, not to mention an unsettling one.

But after what had happened a week ago with that boy, along with her mother's assurances had somewhat put her at ease.

Her mind drifted to Naruto and the incident that had scored her and him both their first friendships.

 

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*Flashback*

Hinata was walking alongside her mother in the streets of Konoha just window shopping.

Her mother Hanna Hyuuga was still very much a normal civilian mother, regardless of the fact that she was married to the clan head of the Hyuuga, and as such disliked the formality and claustrophobic atmosphere that surrounded the clan compound whenever her husband Hiashi was dealing with clan politics.

So whenever the clan head elders where congregated in the main room of the complex, she and Hinata would take little Hanabi and go out into the village.

She enjoyed the time she spent with her mother, who was a kind and understanding person always willing to listen.

Although Hinata did not like attention, she did enjoy talking to some extent. She was always too paranoid about people not wanting to listen, or people not liking her, but with her own mother it wasn't a problem as she could talk with her for hours

They stopped at the front of a small jewellery shop and looking in awe at the wonderful pieces on display.

"Wow Hinata, look at that one" Hana pointed to the middle of the display case "Diamond on white gold, it looks fabulous doesn't it?"

Hinata smiled at her mother "Y-yes, it does"

Hanna rolled her eyes jokily and kissed her on the head and turning away from the window and stroking little Hanabi's face

"Come on Hinata, let's be getting back, your father should be done about now and I could really use a nice soak in the bath"

She smiled at Hinata who returned it in kind as her mother began to walk away.

Hinata took a second to look back at the necklace in the shop window one last time, admiring its design and wondering how anyone managed to save up enough to even buy something like that, she didn't get THAT much pocket money.

She turned back to follow her mother.

It had only been a second or two, she was sure of it.

Hinata looked around frantically for her mother and began to panic.

"M-Mother?!" she shouted but the square was positively bustling with people, she could be anywhere.

Hinata bit her lip as she tried to calm herself down.

It wasn't working.

She turned to look around when she was knocked to the ground by a group of boys that were passing by.

Hinata tasted blood and realised she had bit her lip; she held a hand quickly to her mouth and tried to keep a brave face on.

"Hey watch where you're goi-"started the young roughian who had so 'gracefully' thrown her to the floor.

"Hey sorry girl" he looked about his friends as they all smiled at each other "I didn't mean nothin' by it, you look lost" and he held out a hand for her to grasp, she accepted it and he helped her up and immediately realised her mistake-he hadn't let her go yet.

"Well" he began again, the stink of dishonesty blatantly showing to Hinata, she didn't have to have her bloodline active to see through this boys lies "why don't us guys help you out, don' worry, we'll take care of ye'" and they dragged her off the street, Hinata trying to drag herself away from them the whole time.

"L-Let me go!" she shouted, but in a bustling village such as this, no one heard a thing, except one young boy who everyone gave a wide birth to, almost as if the very air around him was toxic.

 

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They had reached a secluded area at the edge of the village when they had finally stopped.

Hinata was stood with her back against a tree panting for air and her wrists ached from being handled so roughly.

She finally got a decisive look at who she was being abducted by, there were three of them, and the one on the left was a short boy, about sixteen or so but looked civilian only.

The one who had taken her was a very dirty looking boy around the same age, if only a little taller.

The one on the left however was clearly much older than the others and was extremely lanky and had a look about him that screamed untrustworthy, Hinata's panic escalated.

"So boss" the short one on the left said "who we got this time?" a sick grin spread on his face

Hinata started shaking

'This time...oh Kami they have done this before, they even have a place that no one knows they will be, oh Kami, oh Kami, oh Kami' she repeated in her mind

The 'boss', the lanky scumbag on the right gave a frown and turned to the other who had taken Hinata in the first place and punched him square in the jaw.

"You idiot" he started "Look at her you fool, a Hyuuga and one without a brand as well!"

He walked over to the now confused man and brought his foot down onto the man's hand as he was trying to get up, shattering his fingers and not waiting for his screaming to stop before carrying on.

"Means she is of the main house you fool, do you know what that means?"

The short one screwed his eyes together and looked at him questioningly

The 'boss' stood there and shook his head from side to side a good few times

"She is expected to come home tonight and will have best part of a CLAN out looking for her you dimwit!"

The short one stuck a finger inside his ear and wiggled it a bit, trying to un-pop his ears from all the shouting when he piped up.

"Yeah, but if she is main house then surely...surely it means she is more valuable like?" he said hopefully.

The leader paused for a minute and shook his head and began laughing.

"Why is it boy that you can be so stupid some times and so smart in others, just make up your mind already so I can either stab you or hug you"

The short one simply shrugged in reply, no one apparently paying attention to the man on the floor screaming that his lovely hand was broken.

The 'boss' turned around with a smile to face the Hyuuga girl and found her to be missing, he quickly looked towards the alleyway behind them and darted after and in front of her quickly and delivering a swift punch to her gut forcing her to the floor in pain and four feet back.

"Don't try that again kid" he said menacingly, illustrating his threat by drawing out a kunai "or I will cut those lovely little Hyuuga legs off, regardless of the price drop"

Hinata grit her teeth as a tear streaked down her face, and jumped when the 'boss' landed face first on the ground unconscious beside her.

She sat up quickly to see a young boy her age clad in orange wielding what seemed to be half of a paving slab.

He smiled warmly at her and she felt her hopes shift.

The unknown boy moved his head to her in a fashion that meant 'get him' as he closed on the thug.

Filled with hope, Hinata shot to her feet, gritting her teeth however at the pain in her abdomen and grabbed the short man and hold him still for the boy to close on him.

"Now what the he-"he was silenced by the boys fist against his face and a swift knee to the gut.

When he was dealt with the boy smiled at her and held out a hand to her.

Remembering her recent experience with accepting hands she backed away a little.

He immediately looked downtrodden and lowered his head to her.

'Oh no' she thought 'have I upset him?'

Hinata darted forward and wrapped him up in a light friendly hug which shocked the young boy.

"T-Thank you, t-thank you s-so much!" she managed, quickly backing off with a red hue on her cheeks.

She was about to open her mouth to speak again when her family as well as two Hyuuga clansmen burst into the secluded area.

"Hinata!" shouted her mother as she ran full pelt towards her to envelop her in a huge hug

"Thank Kami Hinata, oh my girl oh" she said, bordering on hysteria.

The young boy smiled gently with a look of both happiness and sadness on his face as he turned and began to make his way out of the clearing.

"Naruto" said Hiashi, his voice barely holding together while waiting his turn to hug his daughter.

Naruto turned to look at him, quickly wiping something from his eye before he faced him.

"Naruto...rest assured, I will not forget this. Thank you...thank you so much" he said clasping a strong hand over Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto simply replied by giving him a face-cracking grin and a thumbs up before turning to almost skip away back to his apartment.

*Flashback end*

 

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The boys name...Naruto

Hinata had not seen him since then, be her father assured her that he was to be in the same class as her in the academy.

For the first time in her life, something her father had said, had actually re assured her that everything was going to be fine.

She finished up her little personal flashback moment and pulled her baggy lavender jacket over her small frame and ample features before quickly making her bed and descending the large set of stairs to the hallway, passing many members of the branch who she greeted casually including Neji and his father.

"Hinata!" Hizashi called to her as crossed the hall to her "First day of the academy eh'?"

She nodded timidly "Y-Yes uncle, I am still quite a-apprehensive but father assures me all will be w-well"

Hizashi smiled warmly "Well he is right on that one sport, I'm sure you will love it just as Neji here did"

Neji bowed to Hinata and gave her a small smile "I am sure you will be fine Lady Hinata"

Hinata returned both the smile and the bow and said her goodbyes before making her way to the dining room where her family where eating breakfast

Hinata ceremoniously took one of the slices of toast on her father plate and sat beside him and began to munch away.

"So Hinata, you do realise that even though I love you" her father began "I expect good results you hear?" he smiled at her as she lowered her head

She replied quietly with a solemn "I'll try father" once she had a mouth clear of toast.

"Hiashi darling" warned Hanna "Stop worrying her, she will do just great don't you worry and just support her all the way"

She took her own seat and the opposite side of Hiashi and smiled at Hinata whilst dishing out Hanabi some food

"G'luck 'nata" said Hanabi with a cute little smile

"Thank you Hanabi" managed Hinata who was struggling to hold on the laughter she was feeling after looking at the young girl who had somehow gotten rice onto the end of her nose even though it had only just been dished out.

"Okay spud, I think that is Lady Kurenai arriving so you had best get out there" Hanna kissed her daughters head lightly and opened the door for her "Good luck and have fun!"

Hinata smiled and nodded before leaving the house behind shouting a goodbye to her family.

Today was going to be interesting in the least she summarised.

 

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Hinata arrived at the academy with a good fifteen minutes to spare, her watcher Kurenai noted that it gave her a chance to get to know a couple of people before the class started, but Hinata already knew who she would be searching for.

"T-Thank you for seeing me here safely Miss Kurenai" she said with a little bow.

Kurenai returned it in kind and smiled "Anytime Hinata, now go on and find someone you are comfortable with" and she turned about and left the young Hyuuga to it.

 

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Hinata found Naruto a couple of minutes later sitting on a swing on the far side of yard on his own. Everyone seemed to be giving him looks and whispering to each other and the adults that where still dropping of their children where no better.

She stood still for a moment to gather her wits "Okay Hinata, he is already your friend right, so what's your problem?" she swallowed and slowly began to make her way over to where Naruto was perched.

He noticed her as she approached and his sad expression was immediately replaced with one of happiness

'It's Hinata, finally she is here!' he thought whilst slipping off the swing.

Hinata saw his new outfit and wondered how he managed to get hold of something so stylish when he was not in a clan of his own, as it all looked custom made and she knew that he was only getting a little bit of money from the Hokage for living arrangements.

'That's it' Hinata thought 'It is probably a gift from the Hokage for starting the Academy'

Naruto was dressed in a long black trench coat that went down to about his knees that had the stitching done in a dark green and had the sleeves tightened with smaller strips of fabric that were also of a dark green, the toggle from his jumpsuit haphazardly sewed onto the shoulder.

His trousers where of a similar design favouring a base colour of black and a dark green trim around the bottoms of the legs and around the seams of the two pockets it they had on either side.

He wore a pair of black fingerless gloves that had a plate of metal over the top of the hand and also pair of black ninja sandals.

Underneath the coat he simply wore a black T-shirt with an orange Konoha swirl on it overlaid with a layer of fishnet.

'Suppose he had to get orange somewhere didn't he?' she smiled unconsciously as he approached Naruto who unknowingly to her was making the same evaluation of her.

Hinata was wearing a pair of black shorts that stopped just below her knees and wore a large fluffy cream coloured jacket with a fur laced hood and a couple of large pockets.

It didn't show much of her figure but Hinata figured that she liked it better that way.

They approached each other and Hinata was about to ask how he had been when he wrapped her in an iron embrace and lifted her from the ground, she was so surprised that she gave no resistance as he spun her around once before setting her on terra firma once more.

Naruto noted how red she looked now and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I-I-I-I" 'nope...' she thought and keeled over backwards unconscious.

Naruto looked around for a second at the gasping parents as he got a worried look in his eyes.

"See that boy there" whispered one "Stay well away from him, he is bad news that one".

"Keep away" said another "Or he will do horrible things to you".

Naruto had had enough and just turned his back to them and tried his best to tune them out.

He bent down to shake Hinata awake and to see if she was alright when a kid with a dog atop his head and a coat similar to Hinata's only more rugged walked up behind him and proceeded to get Naruto into a headlock.

"Hey freak" he started, a smug grin slowly forming on his mouth "I heard you where dangerous, apparently said rumours are utter crap just as I thought they would be".

The boy continued to apply more pressure to Naruto's neck.

"I'm the alpha male here freak, and don't you forget it" he finished before punching Naruto in the top of his head causing him to reel backwards as the feral-looking bully let him go.

Naruto continued to lie on the ground clutching his head for the next five minutes while all the other kids laughed at him, gave up and ultimately got bored and began filing into the academy's lobby.

Hinata woke up with a start and immediately began to think of things to say to make her position less awkward but instead was only met with the sight of her new friend writhing in pain on the floor in silence.

"Naruto!" she shouted out loud and ran to his side and making an attempt to sit him up with one arm.

"Are you okay Naruto, what happened, who did this, are you okay, what shall we do, oh dear um...are you okay?" she repeated with mantra like qualities, to which she noticed he only nodded or shook his head

'God damn arsehole' thought Naruto angrily 'Who just goes and assaults another student right outside the gates, prick'

Naruto (with the aid of Hinata) stood on wobbly legs and inclined his head to the doors

"Y-you want to still go in?" she said, worry plastering her face.

Naruto nodded a bit and his face screwed up in pain a bit and regular intervals as they walked to their class

 

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Hinata and Naruto had walked slowly down the well lit maze of academy corridors together until they had passed another group of students and, seeming much friendlier than the last group they had met outside, Hinata had thought it best to ask directions. As the tallest boy gave her directions unbeknownst to her the others remained staring Naruto into submission.

'Damn it' Naruto thought to himself 'why do they all look at me this way, I have never even seen them before in my life!'

Hinata finished up asking questions and began making her way back to Naruto's side.

"T-Thank you" she managed with a bow and motioned with her head for Naruto to follow her.

"I-It's right down h-here on the r-right he said"

Naruto frowned momentarily and then nodded his confirmation solidly and they made their way to their designated classroom.

 

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Sasuke Uchiha had just about had enough with his joke of a class. It was a shambles, the instructor had left the room not five seconds ago, and apparently that gave cause for uproar and the throwing around of academy furniture.

He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

As an Uchiha, he was taught respect and discipline from a young age, as was every member of his prestigious clan.

One thing always puzzled him though.

Sasuke's father, the clan head Fugaku Uchiha had always told him how he was a part of the greatest clan in Konoha, that have even been around since before the founding of their great village and even helped in its rising to its current standing as the greatest hidden village in the elemental nations.

When he was younger, even the thought of his clans greatness gave him shivers and made his head spin, but that is not what bothered him.

What did however, was his brother's reply once after a long training session.

 

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*Flashback*

"Listen to me closely Sasuke" he had began, his gaze stony and his voice cold.

"There is a very big difference between what 'Father' says and the actual reality of things".

Itachi sighed, closing his eyes and taking a few slow breaths through the nose to calm himself, it would not do to scare his little brother.

"What he says about our clan history is more or less the truth, however" he paused again to figure out how to word his next sentence.

"We are bound to Konoha Sasuke, not just the clan, but when we decide to become a Ninja, we swear loyalty to the village and adopt a will of fire, the will to protect all those with loved ones, regardless of their bonds to us individually, we are bound to protect them as the villagers, no matter how common make a village what it is. Do you follow me so far?" he asked slowly.

"Um, yes brother I do" he managed.

Itachi smiled and ruffled his brother's hair and gestured for him to sit with him on the dry grass of the Uchiha training field, burnt to a brown straggly mess in places due to the Uchiha clan's compatibility and mastery over fire Jutsu's.

"As I was saying Sasuke" he started once more "as we are bound as founders of Konoha, we are also bound as its protectors."

"Our clan is powerful, that much is certain our enemies know that, the clan knows that, the village knows that. "

"However, with power comes a few things that must be taken under wing and considered. Problems if you will."

"Problems?" asked Sasuke looking utterly baffled "Like what?"

Itachi smiled bitterly and let out another sigh.

"Well, the first is the largest, but it has a few sub-divisions that I could label as other problems. With power comes responsibility and as Konoha's protectors, we should use our power responsibly."

"Some, like father for example think that people should worship the ground on which Uchiha's walk, which is of course nonsense, gratitude for us policing the streets and helping with Ninja contracts is one thing, but treating us like Kami herself- no."

"There is a boundary between us and the gods for a reason and some Uchiha's have a problem containing their own power and desires."

"Why do you think a good majority of the missing ninja's for Konoha are Uchiha's."

Sasuke's eyes widened and Itachi smirked and let out a small chuckle.

"Didn't know that one did you brother, surprised?"

Sasuke nodded and frowned slightly.

"I had no idea there was that many out there" he said dumbfounded

After a minute or two Sasuke had collected himself and was engrossed by Itachi's truths. His brother always had that air about him, like you could listen to him for hours on end and then some, even if he was just informing you of how he had fallen out of bed in the night.

"Well" Sasuke said "what is the problem all this spanned from, what is the source?"

"It's something so petty that you may not even believe me you know, you still willing to hear it?"

Sasuke raised his brow and furiously nodded his affirmative

"Damn right I do" he said which made Itachi smile.

"Ego" he said his face completely straight.

Sasuke sat still waiting for Itachi to elaborate, but it never came.

"What the hell Itachi" Sasuke said, somewhat miffed "Just 'Ego', throw me a bone here what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Itachi then burst, laughing out loud enough to startle his little brother.

"Ah Sasuke" he smiled "You will find out yourself one day" and poked Sasuke in the forehead lightly with two fingers as he did every now and then.

"Oh no you don't" Sasuke said springing to his feet "you tell me damnit!"

But his brother had already long gone

*End Flashback*

 

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Sasuke came back to the present slowly, his brothers words both sparking anger and intrigue inside of him.

Sasuke paused

'No sound?' he thought, 'what in the elemental nations could quieten those idiots bar Sensei, I didn't see Iruka or Mizuki Sensei enter'

He got his answer once his vision has panned over to the door to the classroom, where two new students stood looking somewhat nervous

"All right everyone settle down, settle down" boomed Iruka, largely unaware of the already deathly silent classroom

Sasuke took a moment to take them both in

The girl on the right was clearly a Hyuuga the eyes said that much, but the way she walked and looked out into the classroom almost looked like a fish out of water

Sasuke chalked it down in the end to 'She is nervous' but it still puzzled him, 'aren't the Hyuuga's supposed to be legendarily arrogant and stoic?' he wondered

He thought about it for a few seconds before waving it off and moving to her more ruggedly dressed companion

This boy was a mystery to him; he knew nothing about him whatsoever

He had seen him in the street on multiple occasions, usually just him being thrown out of various places

He had tried talking to him once, but his father had stopped that very quickly, and Sasuke was warned not to even look at that 'lowlife' as he phrased it

He was snapped out of his analytical endeavours when Iruka coughed once more

"All right everyone" he began, his eyes scanning the classroom before proceeding

"These two here are Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga, they are the last of your new classmates. Treat them with respect or there will be trouble, understood?"

The class chimed in a droning response that could have been pretty much anything but an acknowledgement and Iruka pushed the two forwards a little

"These two need a seat, any open at the back?"He looked to the back and began mentally crossing off certain seats beside troublesome individuals

Sasuke saw his chance and thrust his arm into the air for Iruka to see

Iruka took notice of this and raised his eyebrow; Sasuke Uchiha was not one to volunteer anything

"Yes Sasuke?"

Sasuke lowered his hand and spoke aloud, Sakura Hanuro and Ino Yamanaka looking his way as if startled

"They can sit here with me" he said

Iruka smiled and nodded

"That's very kind of you Sasuke, well you two off you go" he instructed and gave them a little push and they made their way slowly through the desks to their new seats beside the Uchiha

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata was shocked to say the least that the Uchiha heir would want to share a seat with her. Weren't his clan rivals to her own?

Maybe he was just being friendly. But maybe, he was to spy on her for his clan?

Hinata hated that train of thought so she abandoned it quickly before it became a wreck, she had had such thoughts drilled into her by her father, as 'such things are to be expected of a clan heir' she mentally quoted

She decided to give this Sasuke the benefit of the doubt, but allowed Naruto to sit beside him to leave herself in the end seat.

It wouldn't hurt to at least be a little bit cautious, right?

Naruto however, knowing nothing of clans and such was just simply ecstatic, a friend on his first day, brilliant!

'I wonder if he knows any amazing techniques' Naruto thought and started subconsciously dribbling at the mere thought

They took their seats and the class began in earnest.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata had noticed that all through the class that people had been staring towards the trio for some time, even though the speech on the Hokages that had captivated Naruto completely, a select few people would be staring their way.

The staring was not the problem however

'Their eyes' she thought to herself 'it's almost like they hate us…but they have never even met us before'

It didn't take long after she had started concentrating however to uncover the simple fact of the matter

'It isn't me and the other boy they are looking at…its Naruto'

Iruka's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she thought she saw everyone bristle at his words

"Okay class, turn to page fifty in your textbooks and begin reading from there " he glanced around the room "There will be a test on all of this at the end of the year, so you had better take this as an opportunity as a head start, I will leave you to it and I expect you to concentrate"

Iruka began to make a move towards the door "I will be back shortly" and he left.

There was a moment of silence until the entire classroom burst into sound as everyone began to talk to one another.

Four or five of them however began whispering in hushed tones before making their way over to where Hinata and the others where sat.

Naruto had just opened his book when the boy from earlier outside the school placed his hand on the book and slid it off the desk with such force that it crashed against the wall, bending the gentle covers and ripping the page.

The canine featured boy sneered at Naruto's surprised expression before poking him in the chest hard

"Yo idiot, did you not get the warning I gave you earlier?" he illustrated his point with another sharp poke to the chest "You're not welcome here, make like the freak you are and beat it".

Naruto's face screwed up and he caught the next poke that was aimed at him and just gave the boy a quizzical look

'What the hell is this guys problem?!' Naruto thought 'what did I even do to this guy, what makes him so much better than me?'

Naruto stood and shoved the hand away and stood his ground.

'That's it!'

Hinata had begun to notice the crowd that the two were gathering and grimaced.

Sasuke had already stood up and was making read to intervene "What the hell is with this Inuzuka?" he thought out load, Hinata nodding her agreement on the matter

"I-I don't know w-what is happening, w-what do we do?" Hinata replied meekly

Everyone else was stood around them had begun to converge on Naruto and began shoving him in a circle, the completely baffled and betrayed look on Naruto's face made Hinata's heart lurch.

"All right enough is enough!" shouted the young Uchiha stepping into the circle and steadying Naruto, who was holding his head trying to get his bearings

"Eh'?" whined the Inuzuka "What are you talking about man, he's a freak and a monster, my friend told me so" he grinned "Just keeping him in his place is all"

Sasuke's anger flared "By getting an entire class to gang up on him?!"

"Tch" the Inuzuka spat out "Why does it matter to you, what do you want with that clan less orphan anyway?"

"Tch" mimicked Sasuke "So much for a clan based around honour"

Sasuke figured that he had struck a nerve when the Inuzuka charged in with a growl that, to his surprise was stopped in his tracks when the petite white eyed girl appeared before him and struck his shoulder which immediately went numb, but somehow burned intensely

"Aghhh, what did you do you bitch!" he shouted out, bringing his hand to his shoulder as the three made their way from the classroom "I'll get you for this damnit, both of you, and that freak too!"

Sasuke just grunted and carried on leading the Uzumaki outside, leaving behind him the tremulous classroom that was still marvelling at the small girl's display of strength.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trio made their way from the building with the dark haired boy in the lead, stopping by a street corner when he turned to them.

Sasuke looked at them both before taking a breath.

The Hyuuga was rosy cheeked, clearly embarrassed by this whole ordeal but with the look she had in her eyes she would do it again in a heartbeat.

The other though, the whisker faced boy had a sullen look on his face, clearly put down by his first day in the academy and his encounter with the Inuzuka.

"You okay?" he said, his brow creasing a little

Naruto jumped at the sounds of his voice but quickly collected himself and nodded.

'Fine I guess' he thought 'but...I just don't know what I did wrong...'

"Well, I don't think it would be a good idea to go back to the classroom right now" Sasuke sighed

"You two want to go for something to eat?" he gave a sheepish grin "I kind of rushed out this morning, didn't want to be late and all, but it seems the first day isn't that great anyway, come on"

The two looked a little hesitant "...I'm buying"

'WHAT!?' Naruto thought

Naruto's face was suddenly adorned with a sundering smile and he grabbed the two by their arms and, leaving no room for debate: sprinted as fast as he could toward his favourite ramen stand.

 

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Hinata was cautious around the Uchiha heir at first, but the way he was talking between the two of them made her relax a little.

Relations between the Uchiha's and the Hyuuga's had never been solid and there was always a distinct rivalry between the two, however the young Uchiha seemed to disregard anything to do with such clan differences, and for this she was thankful.

She collected herself quietly and tuned herself back into the conversation between Sasuke and Naruto, or at least what could be classed as such between someone she had not heard speak yet.

 

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"So jumped in to save me and took out the boar in one hit!" Sasuke finished, illustrating it with a swing of his hand in the air.

"If not for my brother I'd probably not be here right now" Hinata noticed his voice quietening as he finished off his tale, like the wind out the sails of a great ship.

Hinata decided to speak up.

"S-so, you sound like you are r-really close to your brother, yes?"

Sasuke nodded eagerly "I look up to him so much; it's my dream to one day become as strong as he is"

Sasuke's face stretched into a very feint smile as he stared ahead at his Ramen bowl before taking another mouthful with the others following suit.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the trio were all finished with their food they all gather outside to say their farewells.

"It was fun talking to you guys" started Sasuke, the same sheepish look from earlier playing on his face once again "Honestly, I was afraid that people would try either sucking up to me or shunning me for being an Uchiha"

Hinata shook her head strongly "I'd n-never assume s-something like that Sasuke, you seem...r-really nice"

"Hah" replied Sasuke a genuine smile on his face "Thanks, you know, for a Hyuuga, you don't seem as stuck up as people say...uhh...no offence"

Hinata smiled gently "N-none taken"

Sasuke turned to Naruto who did likewise "Take care Naruto, I'll see you again tomorrow"

Sasuke turned to walk away but paused for another second before turning back one last time.

"I meant it, I really enjoyed tonight, It's not often I get to spend time with people outside the Clan estate, Father is quite strict, but If you'd like to, you want to do this again sometime?"

Both Naruto and Hinata smiled and nodded.

"I did t-to Sasuke, I would l-love to"

'Sure!' thought Naruto, his grin saying it all.

Sasuke smiled back "Great, see you two tomorrow!" he shouted as he turned to run off down the street with a distinct spring in his step.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto escorted Hinata back to the entrance of her estate, her flushed face confusing him completely.

'Was she sick?' Naruto pondered as he walked back to his apartment

'And more importantly, how did Sasuke...know my name'

With a thud and a click, the door to his abode was drawn shut, and Naruto began the long slug through the sleepless tormenting night.


	4. 4

Chapter 4

-Two years later-

The academy was a breeze for the three, the top students in the whole of the class.

The meek heiress Hinata, excelling at book smarts as well as the theoretical sides of some exercises but falling a little short in the more physical ones, being so very shy was a problem but slowly but surely she had begun to pull out of her shell.

The confident heir Sasuke who excelled at everything, but found it hard to work with others that were not the three, finding flaws with them all and detesting their lack of concern for the third.

The determined pariah Naruto, no matter what life or indeed in the people in it would throw (literally) at him he was always forging ahead and never looking back, with no real talent in anything other than his fists being like steel and having unwavering loyalty, followed closely by oodles of guts meant that this boy was not to be trifled with.

The three were inseparable for a long time, up until the time the confident heirs family was brutally murdered from within, leaving him cold and obsessed with revenge.

He still cared, but he never was the same, the others could feel it, but they would never give up on him.

Sasuke was sat in the shade observing the pariah and the heiress scrap it out, playful as it maybe he thought it would be best to stop it.

'I know it was just a joke but...I don't think Naruto will ever realise the importance of an ice-cream in the summer'

It had just so happened that once again, Naruto had taken Sasuke's bait.

Over the last two years the two had developed a friendly yet playful rivalry that was often sated by pranking the other.

In this case he had dared Naruto to take a bite of Hinata's ice-cream when she had turned around.

He took the bait, naturally.

When Hinata had turned around she had simply looked at it for a long time, before turning her head like a robot and howling like a banshee and punching Naruto square in the face.

The fight had broken out shortly afterwards, the ice-cream all but forgotten about.

'It would be such a waste' Sasuke thought through mouthfuls of ice-cream 'if she was to just leave it, thankfully I got this covered'

He finished and sighed in relief before bending and flicking the spoon in Naruto's direction hitting him square in the forehead.

The shock on Naruto's face was evident and Hinata took the opening

"N-now I have you thief!" and she drove a palm right into Naruto's exposed chest laying him out on the grass

"S-serves you right hmm!" she said while putting her chin up.

"Yeah, teach him the error of his ways Hinata" Sasuke called out without effort, screwing the pot up and shoving it into his pocket.

Naruto simply frowned and sighed heavily on the floor

'Why do I always fall for his stupid tricks, damn it'

Sasuke approached the pair and extended a hand to the grounded boy

"Nice show guys, really you're coming on really well with your clan style Hinata" he said encouragingly

Naruto nodded furiously, rubbing his chest a little.

"O-oh, t-thank you Sasuke, Naruto." Caught off guard she started prodding her fingers together.

"I have b-been training very h-hard with father, he says I'm not progressing f-fast enough for the elders liking...b-but he has confidence in m-me that I will get th-there eventually" he stated

"Although" Hinata's face drooped "M-mothers condition has been taking most of father's time up s-so I have to hone my skills myself for the most part"

Sasuke and Naruto's eyes both dropped to the ground.

"I had been meaning to ask Hinata...how is your mother at the moment, it seems from what you have been saying that she...she isn't getting any better as of yet is she

Hinata shook her head loosely and Sasuke sighed in response, patting her shoulder.

"I'm sure her condition will pick up soon, wish her the best from me" he smiled

"I will, thank you Sasuke" she smiled lightly in return.

Sasuke smiled warmly.

"So you two, I had a great idea. Seen as I have just got a few sacks of food in, how about we do something special. It is Friday after all, start of the weekend and it's my turn"

The two instantly perked up at the idea.

The three had come up with a group idea that sorted a number of problems out.

It was a gathering of sorts between then, where once a week on alternate weeks they would all gather at a different person's house and they would do something for the evening before staying the night.

The idea's inception was on the surface only supposed to show their friendship to each other, but secretly Hinata and Sasuke had hatched its two true purposes-one: to show people that Naruto was protected and two, to force Naruto to expand his culinary expertise.

Over the years Naruto had met with many threats, but true to form the villages always took the slice of first place pie.

Recently however, it was also the only thing stopping Hinata from getting too depressed and so Sasuke had a treat planned.

"Tonight, I'm going to cook you two a meal, Sasuke style!"

Hinata giggled while Naruto just rolled his eyes lazily with a grin on his face

'Always the show-off' Naruto thought.

And with that, they set off towards the Uchiha district with high hopes for a hearty meal

 

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Hinata had started back home in high spirits, almost skipping along while remembering the evening she had just had with her friends.

True to his word, Sasuke has cooked the three of them a fairly basic and yet very delicious mean that had each of them in mind.

She had excused herself a few hours after her meal as she needed to get back to the estate to help her mother with baby Hanabi, who had been born shortly after she had started at the academy.

With the current condition her mother was in, she had volunteered in place of a branch member to help out her mother with her little sister.

Hinata felt more confident when talking to her mother, she would listen no matter what until she had finished and with her soft voice, whenever she spoke she felt comforted.

She couldn't wait to tell her mother about what a day she'd had, usually her mother would just nod and smile while Hanabi snuggled into her.

She turned the bend from the Uchiha district and made haste back to her home and family.

It took twenty minutes to get home.

Five to notice the unusual bustle going to and from the estate.

Less than twenty seconds to notice all of the doctors mixed in with the people

Ten to comprehend what that could mean and rush to her mother's bedside from the estates entrance.

It took only one however, for her to understand the sentence her family's personal physician managed to choke out

"Your Mother...passed away a few minutes ago...I'm sorry"

 

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Naruto Sat by the hearth in the Hokage office staring blankly into the flickering embers of the freshly stoked fire the old man having gone to get him a warm drink to counter the chilly evening.

The winter had come early that year, everyone scurried around in the streets far below the Hokage tower, seeking shelter from the biting wind and steady snowfall.

Naruto had often likened the snow to Hinata's eyes of late.

The eyes that were once a soothing pale lavender, were now cold and devoid of the same kindness they once shared.

In the two months since the death of Hinata's mother Hanna, Naruto had claimed it to be the longest two months of his life.

He had tried entering the Hyuuga estate numerous times, but the guards always just apologised and turned him away politely.

He wasn't as bit an idiot as most people in the academy made out, as he was certainly not going to attempt to break into the home of the man who gave him his own.

Hinata had been attending the academy as usual, but now barely spoke to him or even Sasuke.

Naruto wrung his hands again and stood to the sound of the Hokage's return.

"Ah" the old man smiled and set down the steaming hot beverages on his desk, angling the one meant for Naruto towards him.

"Please, sit my boy" Naruto did so, and smiled his thanks to the Hokage for the drink.

"Now then Naruto" began the old man "What is it that has been bothering you so much recently?" his tone as fatherly as his aging frame.

Naruto sighed and reached into his jacket for the rolled up parchment that he had prepared for the Hokage prior to his audience.

As much as he knew the old man would wipe off some appointments for him, he knew that they'd only be rescheduled, so he tried to take up as little time as possible from his 'grandfatherly' figure as he could.

'Old man, I feel so useless right now... I can't help my friends, I never can!

Try as I might, Hinata will never talk to me and I have a feeling that she is...waiting for ME to say something, which as you know is not possible.

I felt like this after Sasuke's clan was massacred, but even then I had Hinata at my side helping me to pull him back, and now she ignores even him.

Please help me old man, I've never felt this...pathetic before...helpless'

"Helpless then..." sighed the Hokage "You feel that you cannot help your friend after her loss...just as you couldn't help the Uchiha after his".

Naruto nodded, a far-away look in his eye as if remembering something.

"I see" the Hokage took a drag from his old pipe before exhaling and shrouding himself with tobacco smoke.

"There is no easy way to deal with loss of this magnitude I'm afraid my boy. Hanna was an exceptional woman, and it is also evident she was a just as exceptional mother"

He took another puff on his pipe before continuing and looked on to Naruto's dejected face.

The Hokage moved around from his grandiose chair to kneel beside the boyand put an old hand on his shoulder.

"I said there was no easy way, but I never said that there wasn't one. You just cannot just wave your hand and fix this type of wound" he reached to Naruto's chest and tapped it lightly.

"This is a wound to the heart my boy, she may look as though she is shunning your attention, but all she needs is space" the Hokage splayed his arms to demonstrate.

"Always be there for her, and when she finally needs the help of her closest friends and family, she will know she has you and the Uchiha lad to lean on for a while, whilst she gets back on her feet and gets ready to move on, for she will need you then more than ever".

Naruto smirked a little, he didn't know how the Hokage did it, but it seemed like the old man always knew what he was going to say or ask, often before he even knew himself.

He always chalked it down to being old and wise and had told him as much on several occasions, but the Hokage always just laughed, puffing smoke from his nostrils on each laugh an saying: "My boy, it's your face, your eyes, your body language. Even though you cannot use your voice, you speak more with your very being in a minute than most can with their voices in an hour".

Naruto had decided to take that as a compliment, but it always still baffled him every time it happened.

"Has she found out yet my boy?" The Hokage asked whilst rising an eyebrow and displaying his aforementioned talent once again.

Naruto shook his head and gave the old man a sullen look.

'No' he thought 'I'm afraid of how she'd...react, not knowing all along that this whole time, I haven't been speaking because...I can't...not that I won't'

"My boy" the Hokage sighed "You are going to have to tell her sooner or later" the old man shook his head "It's almost as if you don't WANT her to know. You've known her for this long and you still do not trust her with this?"

The Hokage refilled his pipe and continued his chain smoking.

"What if she was to find out from someone else, how do you think that would make her feel hm?"

Naruto looked down at the floor again with a sudden feeling of guilt

'Not only could she feel like I don't trust her, but she could also feel guilty herself for not asking before...'

"So then, you must tell her your secret soon my boy, or it could easily get out of hand"

Naruto nodded firmly before scribbling a quick thank you note down on the scrap paper that sat on the edge of the Hokage's desk before chugging his tea, hugging the old man and darting from the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

 

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The Hokage chuckled to himself before making way to his desk and picking up the note.

'Thanks a lot old man, you really set my mind at ease.

I'm going to tell her the secret as soon as I can; I just hope she doesn't flip out!

Then again I don't think she has the capacity to be nasty.

Peace out old man! =^.^='

The Hokage's face darkened as he placed the letter down and once again enveloping his desk in smoke.

"I wish your endeavour goes smoothly my boy...however I feel that some secrets are best left buried"

He took a small sip of his slightly sweetened tea as his gaze moved between the pictures of the fourth and his happily pregnant wife.

He let himself smile alongside them on the subject of their happiness.

"You'd be proud Minato...Kushina"

 

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Naruto made his way along the streets in high spirits, all the whole breathing the cold air rapidly in and out of his mouth, having scalded his tongue on his tea.

He had thought that it had cooled more than that, but evidently not.

More importantly, he wondered when or how he should tell Hinata of his secret.

He had considered waiting until tomorrow lunch break, but thought it would be too crowded for her.

So instead, he decided that considering that he could not sleep anyway due to his nightmarish insomnia the he would wait out the night inside the general park and then catch her as she left for the academy in the morning. He often just sat on the bench beside the river listening to the flow of the water and it helped him past the time on a particularly stressful night.

Finally after a lengthy walk to the park he pried opened the gates with a rusty screech and swung them shut with an equally loud one, scaring some of the birds nesting in the trees that stood close to the gateposts.

Naruto approached his usually bench and stretched, but when he opened his eyes he became aware of the 'intruder' to his space.

'Hm, I wonder who that is and what on earth are they doing out here at this t-'

He stopped his train of thought dead.

'Blue hair, and those clothes...that's...Hinata?'

As he approached Hinata turned her head slightly to him.

"Oh, it's you Naruto" she said, almost as if dismissing him.

Naruto fumbled with his hands.

'Okay then, how do I do this...'

"You know, I always wondered Naruto about the reason why you never talk to me..."

Naruto's head darted to her quickly 'Oh no...she...not now!'

"I've been pretty much just sat at home thinking the whole time these past months...why didn't you or Sasuke come by, did I mean so little to you?" her face had a very uncharacteristically angry look on her face .

'B-but I did...I came over but...t-the guards!' Naruto flapped his hands around wildly, cursing his lack of paper to tell her the truth.

"Not one word, nothing, for two months. Even when I sit beside you and Sasuke in class, you let him do every ounce of talking!" she was furious and it stunned Naruto, she was never like this.

"You cannot even bear; even now it seems to say a thing!"

Naruto could almost hear her teeth grating together

Naruto raised his hand out to her, his face lined with worry.

'W-wait no, i-its not w-'and then she snapped.

"Y-you never really cared d-did you, all I am is just another p-person shielding you from others, well no more!" and with that, Hinata slapped Naruto's hand away and shoved him.

This caught Naruto off guard as he stumbled backwards, putting a hand through one of the rungs in an effort to stabilise himself, to no avail.

He fell backwards, catching his arm in the back of the bench, cracking his head against it and sprawling out across the floor.

Naruto was aware of the popping sound he felt as he fell and even more so the pounding pain in both his elbow and his head.

He was lead down on his back, his hurting arm beneath him and he looked up and what he saw shook him to the core.

She was stood...just as the matron once did all those years ago.

"Laugh boy, it's funny, just like the irony of letting the monster that made all of the children inside this building orphans live among them"

'Demon' he thought 'Monster'

The words echoed like a grim reminder inside his head of the true unbridled hatred the villagers shared of him.

'And now...her too'

Her hands reached down...to beat him...to bruise and bloody him for something that was no fault of his own.

Tears filled his eyes as he mouth moved in silent sobs and he surged to his feet while cradling his arm and ran as fast as his feet would carry him into the shrouded blanket of night.

 

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Sasuke Uchiha could rarely sleep these days, long forgotten were the days were he would be soundly asleep inside the walls of his house, protected by members of his clan.

His father...his brother.

After his brother's betrayal and use of Tsukuyomi, Sasuke's mind was forever scared and because of this, he too liked to embark on a little midnight stroll, although not to the park to relax, but to the Uchiha family burial place that sat beside the memorial stone.

It oddly soothed him, he almost felt like they were still around him, amongst the living.

He had recently been visiting the memorial stone as well, and every time there was a strange, masked leaf ninja who's only actions where nodding to him when he came and went.

On his way back Sasuke decided that rather than taking the shorter route back through the Uchiha district, he would take the longer route around and tire himself out so that maybe he could sleep through the night for more than a couple of hours.

 

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Sasuke had just rounded the corner from the graveyard when, to his surprise he saw someone he really did not expect.

'Is that...Hinata?' "Hinata!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth, she turned to look at him, she looked awful.

He quickly approached her and gave her a look over; he noticed that she had been crying recently.

"H-Hinata, what's wrong what happened?" he asked, his brow creased with worry.

At first when she tried to speak, Hinata was only reduced to crying again.

Sasuke of course served as her handkerchief for me most part until she had calmed herself down.

"I-I did something terrible Sasuke" she started gripping his arm in an iron vice.

"I was so cruel and mean I even hurt his arm as well when I p-pushed him I d-didn't mean to I just wasn't t-thinking straight I was so angry..." her lip quivered again.

"Who, what happened?" he patted her shoulder.

"H-He just ran off as if I'd...beaten him like he'd just given up...I'm such a bad friend!"

"Who, Hinata what did you say, come on speak to me" Sasuke was getting a tad bit annoyed by her babbling and just tried edging her in the right direction.

"Naruto" she said "I-I asked him why he never talked to me, I-I said...that I hated him..."

The colour drained from Sasuke's face.

"Hinata...he wasn't ignoring you, and he certainly wasn't trying to be hurtful"

Hinata's eyes filled with hope "W-Why then?"

"My father told me before the massacre, I thought yours had to and that why you never asked but...Naruto is mute, he was born that way, never spoken a word..."

Her hope was quickly smashed 'He's...mute?'

All at once Hinata began to feel like the worst person in all of the elemental nations.

"A-and I said..." fresh tears pricked her eyes.

"Come on now" Said Sasuke in an effort to console the girl "We need to find Naruto okay? You can clear up any misunderstandings and apologise then to his face then can't you, and it will all be okay right?"

She nodded a little "I-I've never known for Naruto to h-hold a grudge...I j-just hope he can f-forgive m-me..."

Sasuke took charge "Alright then, let's be off then we have a lot of ground to cover"

And the two hopped off into the evening to locate their wayward friend.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto had certainly had a foul day.

Just as he did last time, he made his way to the Hokage tower after his shoulder had been dislocated by the old hag of a woman that was the orphanage matron, and almost like last time the Hokage called Inoichi in to tend to it.

It was a lot more painful this time as the Hyuuga head wasn't there to disable his chakra points and numb his arm, so he spent the next few minutes gritting his teeth and allowing tears to flow.

He healed quickly, he always did. He could have just waited it out, but he recalled what Inoichi had said last time in that if he had left it, it would only have gotten worse.

He was on his way home now; he'd have enough of the world to today. He couldn't sleep, but he could certainly get the peace and quiet that he had wanted.

Mizuki had been stood by his house for over an hour now, the Uzumaki brat not having come home yet from wherever the demon child liked to hang around.

Yet, his message was one of great importance, it was a ploy but important non the less both to him and to his master.

He had been given the task to retrieve the forbidden scroll from the possession of the Hokage and relocate it to the hidden sound village to give their Ninja an edge for the militaristic pushes they had been making into other territories, reckless no?

Maybe so but certainly not without gain, especially not if they could teach all of their shinobi even a handful of the extremely powerful forbidden techniques held within that sacred parchment.

And look, here the little monster came now.

"Hey Naruto!" he said, a forced smile stretching across his face, he noted his arm in a shoddily made sling and tried to hold back the laugh that tried to come out.

"Been through the works this evening I see?" Naruto nodded and he continued.

"Well, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but...your entrance exams where lost when an Inuzuka dog broke in through the back of the academy premises chasing come cat called Tora, you've seen it around, horrible flee ridden thing"

"Uh...I'm sorry to say this but you aren't able to take the final graduation tests without them I'm afraid"

Naruto's eyes flew wide 'WHAT?!'

Mizuki could swear he could feel the anguish radiate off of him, and he knew that what he was about to say next would be taken hook line and sinker.

"But" he grinned "There is...another way..."


	5. 5

Chapter 5

 

Naruto loved ramen.

Everyone knew this to be sure, but contrary to popular belief it was not, as they thought his favourite thing.

His favourite thing was in fact, learning.

Anything he could get his hands on that looked interesting, he had even taken up origami for a few weeks because of how cool it looked. Even now, a long time after he had mastered the art, his more impressive pieces littered his furniture.

But this was different, this was new, and this time he was spoilt for choice.

*Flashback start*

Mizuki grinned at the desperate look in the demon brats eyes, and yet even though he would like nothing more than to watch him squirm, he had a job to do and what better way to do it without even dirtying his own hands.

"So Naruto, I take it you will try the alternate graduation method?"

Naruto nodded furiously his affirmative 'hook, line and sinker' thought Mizuki.

"Well I must warn you then, it is extremely difficult. To pass you must retrieve the forbidden scroll of sealing from the office of the Hokage, and then bring it back to me here.

Mizuki gestured to the forest clearing around them.

"You can go for the scroll at any time, but if you want to graduate with the rest of your friends, you will have to get it back to me before the day's end"

A strongly frantic look flashed onto the young boy's face, who curtly whipped his teacher a snappy salute before darting off in the direction of the Hokage tower.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting in had been easy, the guards were either half asleep at their posts, or extremely bored out of their brains keeping watch for potential enemies that were, pretty much not able to ever get this far into the village, almost imaginary soldiers to the mind of the soon to be thief.

'Y'know' thought Naruto while sneaking carefully thorough the rafters 'I'd have thought the old man would have the best ninja in the village guarding him...not these bunch of tardy half-arsed village idiots!' he momentarily shook his head.

'After all this is over, I'd best tell him about this' he grinned excited 'once I am a fully fledged ninja that is, perhaps he will even make me his bodyguard!'

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, after many detours and distractions, Naruto had made it to the Hokages office.

'Okay then' Naruto took a deep breath 'now for the hard part'

To attempt to get into the room, Naruto had skirted around the rooftop of the Hokage tower and dropped onto a ledge leading right to a window, a perfect entrance point to slip in right next to the Hokage's desk.

'Just like that old guy in red does' he thought.

He crept slowly up to the window and peered inside.

He grinned 'Empty, the old man must be elsewhere'

"Looking for someone?" a voice from behind him said.

Naruto almost literally jumped out of his own skin and only just managed to keep himself steady on the narrow ledge.

His eyes whirled around, trying desperately to identify the person responsible for his discovery, only to lock eyes with...The Third.

"Snooping as usual I see?" said the Hokage in a light tone, clearly amused at the turn of events.

Naruto could feel the sweat on his brow 'I've failed haven't I?'

The Hokage had a ghost of a smile playing across his face.

"Now then" he began, his tone suddenly more serious "why don't you...step into my office, and you can tell me all about your being here hm?"

Naruto didn't miss the glint in the third Hokages eye and gulped as he felt the old man lay a hand on his shoulder leaving no room for argument.

'I'm in for it now' he gulped again, feeling the compulsion to run but his knees being like jelly as he slipped into the unlit office.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had only been in the room for a few minutes when the Hokage had become frighteningly quiet.

Naruto had decided that the truth was the best way out of a bad situation, so he tried to appeal to the aging leader by both telling the truth, and playing on his good will, by Kami if there was any way to get out of this he would try his best.

He thought it was all going well...until he had mentioned Mizuki sensei.

'Was it something about him?' he wondered whitest wringing his hands in nervousness.

When the Hokages pipe had exhausted its contents, he placed it delicately upon his desk and exhaled, shrouding his desk in the familiar smelling brand that he had always smoked.

"Hmm" he uttered, steepling his hands before him with his elbows resting on the desk.

"Do you want to be a ninja that badly my boy?" he pushed the slip of paper bearing Naruto's explanation back to him.

Naruto nodded furiously and quickly scribed his reply, which was already quite evident with what was already written upon the parchment.

'Yes sir!' the note read 'more than anything!'

The Hokage took a moment to look at the boy, seeing in his eyes the same burning desire that was once held in his fathers.

'And yet' thought the old Hokage 'I hope you can forgive me for what might happen after this'

"Okay then my boy" he put on the best smile he could under the circumstance and moved to the corner of the room and removing a dusty old scroll from the top of a cupboard.

Naruto looked sceptical 'Seriously?' he thought 'this is the forbidden scroll of sealing?'

"It looks so ordinary doesn't it?" said the Hokage as he handed it over to the aspiring young ninja.

"It certainly doesn't look like much does it, and yet that is the whole point. No one would consider such a plain looking piece of parchment could be so important" The Third retrieved his pipe once more and turned back to the boy.

"Learn to look underneath the underneath, this is one of the first aspects of the shinobi career that you should learn, stealth and subterfuge is our namesake as ninja, so nothing is ever as it seems, remember that".

The Hokage lit his pipe and took a long drag before sighing out a river of smoke, the embers of the burning tobacco visible amidst the cloud.

'The Hokage is even giving me advice, I'm so damn lucky today!'.

"Run along now Naruto my boy, your sensei will not wait forever!"

'Yessir!' Naruto thought as he almost left the room without the scroll that he had stood on the floor.

The Hokage waited for his young friend to be out of earshot before turning towards the window that had remained open since his entrance.

"Come inside quickly, the situation has become most dire".

Before the Hokage had even finished his sentence, a long spiky white haired hermit with a red waistcoat slipped though the opening, his wooden clogs ringing out as he hit the hard floor.

"Jiraiya" said the Hokage, the toad sage nodding his affirmative.

"The list of things that could go wrong with this situation Sarutobi has gotten pretty extensive by this point"

Jiraiya paused and sighed before adopting a sour look.

"What am I, or you, going to do about this?"

"Well" Hiruzen began "I will inform my personal guard of the matter and they will shortly depart to retrieve both the boy and the scroll".

"And what of the false teacher?" inquired the sage.

The third blew more smoke into the thickening air and spoke quickly and in a heated tone.

"Orochimaru is showing his hand here, I am sure of this. We must act quickly and dispatch this spy as soon as possible" he turned to his student.

"Jiraiya, this is to be your task: Kill Mizuki and secure the scroll by the time my guards get there, Danzo must not know of this".

"Hm" Jiraiya screwed his eyes "You think he is involved in this as well?"

"I do" said the Hokage almost too quickly "Danzo is in charge of vetting out shinobi before they begin any major missions in the service of our village, and the fact that a man, the same man might I add that has been teaching our young aspirants for over ten years, what does that say of Danzo's thoroughness?".

"I get your point" admitted Jiraiya on his way to the window "I'll be off now, wouldn't want to keep my godson waiting".

"Indeed not" whispered Sarutobi "I just pray you are not too late..."

*Flashback End*

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scroll lay out in front of Naruto, and the complex text and explanations were, for the most part baffling the boy.

'C-cyclone limb tearing jutsu?' he read 'Why the hell would anyone want to learn a jutsu that tore their own arm off to kill one bad guy, that's stupid!'

Naruto had settled on a number of jutsu's to try and learn before Mizuki arrived, but the only one that he had managed to master was the shadow clone and shadow shuriken jutsu's.

Shadow clones he thought were easy to do, all he needed to do was pretty much the same thing as a normal clone jutsu, but with a different hand sign, the process was the same.

Shadow shuriken however has taken much longer, and even now it would take some practice to get it down fully.

Naruto found it much harder to concentrate on duplicating multiple small objects than on his singular larger self.

In fact he only managed it while they were in flight once.

Suddenly, he was snatched from his studies when the bushes to his right rustled, and out stepped Mizuki, his sudden appearance making Naruto jump out of his skin for the second time that night.

"Ah, there you are D-Naruto" 'almost let it slip out early again, now all I need to do is get the scroll from the little bastard'.

"You passed with flying colours it seems Naruto, now all you need to do is pass me the scroll and then I can give you your headband".

Naruto nodded a slight twinkle in his eye as he rolled up the scroll.

He was almost done when a foot connected with his chest, and drove the air from his lungs.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke and Hinata had been running around all of Konoha searching for their blonde haired companion for at least an hour before Hinata's Byakugan had managed to get in range of Naruto.

Unfortunately, it was not quite the heartfelt reunion that they had wished for, when they noticed their friend being knocked around by their academy teacher.

"Naru-"began Hinata, who was quickly dragged back into a bush by Sasuke.

"Don't be an idiot, we need to blindside him if we are going to stand a chance against Mizuki, he is a Chunin remember, let's not be rash".

The two looked back at the clearing, with the intention of biding their time when they noticed all the movement in the clearing had stopped.

"You really are an idiot aren't you?" shouted Mizuki into Naruto's face who was at present backed against a tree with tears in his eyes.

"You think there was actually a second chance?" Mizuki smirked "Even if there was, do you think I would waste it on your filthy homeless hide?"

Naruto just looked down, he didn't even give a confirmation to the traitorous teacher.

"You know, there are rules and regulations in place all about you, and you know...there was always one I've wanted to break"

Mizuki grinned again and dropped the scroll horizontally onto the floor while he placed his foot on it and leaning down to eye level with the boy.

"You know that great tale of how the fourth Hokage saved the village by killing the nine tailed demon fox at the cost of his own life? You know, the man you adore?"

Mizuki pointed his finger at Naruto "Well that story was, and has always been, a load of nonsense!" he poked Naruto hard in the chest repeatedly.

"You" he said simply "He used you to seal away the beast".

All in an instant, three pairs of eyes widened in shock as what was just said hit them like a ton of bricks.

"That means" started Hinata

"That he" continued Sasuke

"That's right you demon brat!" finished Mizuki "You are the same demon that took the lives of countless people over ten years ago, you are the same Kami damned monster that took everyone from me!"

And just like a page being flipped over in a book, Mizuki's already fragile temperament shattered as he went red in the face and slowly drew one of the two giant shuriken he had on his back.

"Rest assured demon, I'm going to enjoy this, and then I'll take this scroll to the senin Oorochimaru and get everything I deserve!"

Mizuki threw his first shuriken, Naruto barely managed to dodge out of the way, managing to shift himself and only getting his side cut by the shuriken rather receiving a fatal blow, the wound spraying a red mist onto the tree beside him.

"Naruto!" screamed both Hinata and Sasuke in unison as they ran out from their bush to protect their friend.

"Tch" Mizuki shook his head "You heard everything I said, and yet you still defend him?"

Mizuki drew his second shuriken and charged "Pathetic".

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" shouted Sasuke as he quickly ran through the necessary hand signs and blew fourth a huge torrent of fire.

"Hm, perhaps I underestimated you at least boy. Ninja art: Chakra nullification!" Mizuki slapped the side of the shuriken and swung it before him in a brutal arc, cutting the fireball in half and leaving Mizuki unharmed while one half of the fireball flew off to the side setting a tree ablaze, while the other was thrown back at Sasuke, catching him in the side of the face and clinging to his flesh and he dropped onto the floor howling and rolling the fire out.

"You shouldn't play with fire Uchiha, your clan massacring brother cannot help you now".

Sasuke growled while getting up onto his knees and clutching his burnt face "You be quiet about him!" he screamed.

Mizuki smirked "Not so good at hiding your emotions are you? I wonder what your parents would say at your progress of avenging them, they'd probably be rolling in their graves right now!"

Sasuke lost all control at this point and charged in at Mizuki blindly.

"I said shut your mouth!" Sasuke thrust a kunai at his teacher, who parried him effortlessly before slashing upwards with his weapon and opening up a grizzly looking wound on the Uchiha survivors back.

"Sasuke!" cried Hinata who rushed to his side from Naruto's and assumed a Jyuuken stance facing Mizuki.

"Why, why do you have to do this" she said quietly.

"Because you are in the way" uttered Mizuki as he closed on the small Hyuga heiress and in her confusion rushed forward and delivered a hard blow to her head, knocking her flat out.

Naruto, having witnessed both of his friends get taken down, was once again up against a tree unsure of what to do.

'Damn, damn, damn a-are they, did he oh no, no, no' his mind was a frantic mess.

He could hear his hard breathing, loud and laboured as he stared into the eyes of the man responsible.

"Any last words demon?" spoke Mizuki, the hysteria plain in his voice.

"Oh, wait" he cackled and swung his shuriken again, Sasuke's blood still blotched on the edge.

'Please!' thought Naruto desperately, his will all but broken 'Someone!'

He screwed his eyes shut, and waited for the deathblow.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world darkened around Naruto, and Mizuki's mad laughter had stopped echoing around his skull.

'Silence...'

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a tunnel 'a sewer perhaps?' he looked at the ceiling 'but...how?'

He then turned to look down to the far end, along the left and right there was a number of doors that were bolted shut at the hinges and had no locks on them.

Right at the end however was a large double door with ornate handles and a low growling noise coming from inside.

Naruto took a deep breath 'Here goes nothing'.

He walked slowly up to the door, his footsteps announcing his arrival with a rhythmic splashing that marked his foot falls.

His bit his lip and push with both arms on the doors that came open as if they were very well tended without so much as a click.

He spied instantly the large cage at the back, covering an undeterminable section of the room.

"Ah, your here at last" called out a booming voice on the other side of the cage, a single enormous eye opening to fill a number of the cage rungs and to fix Naruto in its animalistic pupils.

Naruto's eyes widened as his scepticism was lifted from his mind like the wrappings of a present.

'He was...telling the truth...I really am a demon'

The darkness once again parted, this time to make way for a huge jaw full of bone white teeth.

"Don't you dare!" shouted the mouth "I am the demon here, to even consider yourself anything CLOSE to my power would be an insult!"

Naruto jumped, sweat beading on his brow.

He was terrified, but the demons comment, might have almost made him feel better if he wasn't facing something from his nightmares.

'Kami that thing is scary'

The demon tutted disappointingly "I am not a 'thing' either, learn some respect when speaking to those clearly your superior brat. I am the nine-tailed fox, you would do well to remember as much!"

Naruto gulped 'Yessir!'

"Tch good. Now then, about your current predicament"

It was then that the demon chose to sit up from its position lying inside its cage, the light shining upon its glossy orangey-red coat.

Naruto froze.

'This fox...is the same one that had been haunting me since...since I can remember!'

He looked towards his chest 'and now...'

"A conversation for another time perhaps" muttered the fox.

"Unless you want to die, I suggest you approach me quickly, I can get you out of your current situation regarding the wayward traitor of a teacher".

Naruto just nodded dumbly, being too scared and frankly too sensible to think that there was any other way out of this situation.

The fox placed its paw on the damp floor within the cage and beckoned Naruto in. "Touch my paw"

Naruto did so and immediately regretted it, he couldn't remove his hand and a slight tingling feeling had since started up his arm.

"Do not panic boy, this will be painful but such is the only way to gain the power I bestow upon you".

Pain started pulsing through his whole body strongest in his head as the demonic chakra from the fox flooded his system.

'What are you doing to me!?' screamed Naruto inside his mind.

"What must be done boy if you are to survive these trying times" the foxed paused "Now get out, you will thank me later".

There was a flash of white light that filled Naruto's eyes and his vision shifted once again.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto felt like he had fallen from a balcony, everything ached, and he could barely move.

Cracking an eye open, all he could see were star bursts in his vision.

He managed to lift an arm to rub his eyes clear and tried again.

Something dripped on his face and he quickly wiped it off after jumping for the third time that evening.

He looked at his hand the substance was red and warm on his clammy hands 'Blood...'

Naruto slowly looked up only to be met by Mizuki's face twisted in horror.

Naruto scrambled out from under him 'What...happened?' he wondered.

He noticed that Mizuki was still clutching his shuriken that was now stuck into the side of the tree.

'Did I...do this?' Naruto began to fret as he tried to consider the possibilities and took another look at his old Sensei.

From this angle, Naruto noticed a small spike sticking out the back of Mizuki's head.

'What in the world?' thought Naruto who was still fazed from his ordeal with the fox and dizzy in the head.

He was broken from his stupor when he heard Sasuke yell and looked over to find him still sprawled against his own tree that he had managed to drag himself to with Hinata beginning to stir beside him.

'Guys!' he thought worriedly as he stumped dizzily to their side, worry plastered on his face.

Sasuke breathed heavily and he sat awkwardly as not to agitate his wound more and yet, sat with a smile on his face, his eyes screwed shut.

"W-what have you got to be smiling about?" said Hinata, beating Naruto to the punch.

Sasuke opened his eyes, slowly at first to reveal they had become red with a single mark around his pupil.

"Finally" sighed Sasuke.

"Sharingan" whispered Hinata.

Sasuke chuckled lightly but stopped and started coughing soon after realising his folly.

"Sasuke, you must stay still and not talk, u-unless you want to bleed out" ordered the suddenly stern heiress as she reached into her coat for the ointment that the three had come to find wondrous.

Naruto could not tear his vision from the blood that speckled Sasuke's shirt and felt a spasm of anger rip through him.

An aching pain filled his head once more as he thought of all the pain Mizuki had caused his friends.

Suddenly, there was a terrible sound that shot through the forest like a watermelon being hit with a hammer from where their sensei rested dead.

Hinata looked instantly white in the face and about ready to lose her lunch while Sasuke, who was looking in that direction to begin with, was gawking madly.

Naruto turned slowly and looked nonchalantly at the display of brutality before him.

Mizuki's head had been pulverised, barely any of it left to Identify.

'Oh' he thought 'It really was...'

And with that, the world began to spin as his head rushed to meet the earth.


	6. 6

Eyes of Steel   
Chapter 6

A disaster, that's what the Hokage thought of the current situation.

None of the three academy students had perished, that was good.

But there were a number of other problems that had come up.

Naruto had been informed at last of his burden, he had also suffered a large shock to his entire body and become very lucid of late, which every medic-nin that tried to solve had been unsuccessful.

When the boy was back to full strength, the Hokage had sworn to Naruto that he would explain everything, to which he just nodded and continued to stare into space.

The Uchiha survivor was also not in the best of condition. The laceration on his back would be easy enough for the Medic-nin's to knit back together, but the burns that he sustained to his face and arms were not possible to be fixed, at least not by them.

They would have to be tended to by one of The Thirds apprentices, Tsunade the slug senin.

The Hyuga heiress however was relatively unharmed, apart from her ego, or what little she had of one anyway.

The problem still remained however, that they both now knew of Naruto's secret.

At first glance they seemed to respect him still, but to a trained eye such as the Hokage's, it could be noticed that they were a little a little more apprehensive about visiting their demon housing companion, than they usually were.

Even the Hyuga girl looked as though torn between hugging him or running.

The Hokage sighed a smoke trail and shook his head.

The door opened with an aged creak to reveal a slightly disgruntled looking toad hermit.

"Ah Jiraiya, right on time, sit please" spoke the Hokage, his visitor complying silently.

"What happened Jiraiya, this is a mess if I've ever seen one, and I have seen many".

The white haired sage slumped forward and began to help himself to a saucer of the Hokage's sake before speaking.

"The snake sent a retrieval team for Mizuki that bared my way to the boy, youngish bunch but hellish strong".

He took another round of sake "They were all juiced up by curse seals" the Hokage looked up from his calligraphy wide eyed.

"What" he spoke loudly "How many, was it the seal of heaven?"

Jiraiya grimaced "Five, one could use his own bones as weapons, he looked to be the leader of the team but seemed rather sluggish for a leader of his 'skill'. A girl who had some wicked strong genjutsu, a chap who could split himself into two separate bodies, and a guy the size and build of an Akamichi with a strong affinity for earth jutsu and grappling" Jiraiya rubbed his neck "the last one was almost like a spider who sat in trees slinging some sharp, spiky crap at me".

"I see" spoke the Hokage at last, not wanting to interrupt his students recollection.

"It seems as though Orochimaru is stepping up his game, becoming bolder, foolish really" the Hokage shook his head.

He lowered his pipe "Any of the news on Akatsuki then?"

Jiraiya nodded "I've been meaning to talk to you about this"

He leaned forwards on the chair he had perched himself on, placing his elbows on his knees.

"They have increased movement in water country and have been spotted within the walls, on top of that the Mizukage has gone missing".

The Hokages eyes narrowed.

"I think we can make a guess on what happened there, and since the bloodline purges he has never been very popular. The populace would most likely welcome his disposition.

Jiraiya grunted "Also on this topic, I have a request".

The Hokage raised an eyebrow "Go on".

"I wish for you to keep to the original plan with Minato's son, the sensei we picked out will do just fine. Kakashi has assured me that it is for the best".

The Third nodded slowly "Yes, it was my intention to keep to the path we have laid over the years, why, is there something else?"

Jiraiya paused "I'd like the second path to be accelerated however, he needs to know as much as possible before they come for him, and they will, mark my words".

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly looked very deflated as he emptied his pipe "Why must so much go wrong for him? I try my best to keep him from coming to harm, and yet trouble seems to follow him like a magnet"

He shook his head "If I, the Hokage cannot aid him, who can?"

Jiraiya shrugged "He's too much like his father I guess, besides, he has always managed to help himself when he needed it. He's a resourceful boy that one".

The Hokage smiled lightly "Perhaps. Well you have my permission, make yourself known to him soon and begin guiding him to his full potential. For Kami knows how long we really have".

 

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Hinata and Sasuke had been sat on a bench outside of Naruto's room for fifteen minutes while he was getting checked over by a nurse, and yet, neither of them had spoken a word.

Hinata was nervous, Sasuke could see that, she had been playing with her hands in that familiar way again, poking her index fingers together over and over.

The problem was, have was nervous to. In truth, he did not know what to make of the situation.

One side of him, the side drilled into him by his father, his Uchiha side was warning him to not enter the room.

But the side that had kindled a friendship with two unlikely people, the village pariah and the heiress of a direct rival clan, his Sasuke side, was screaming at him that he needed them now more than ever.

The nurse exiting the room clicked the door shut loudly disrupting Sasuke's thoughts.

"Okay, you can go in to see him now, but there are a few things that you need to be made aware of first".

She looked at the two of them individually, and seeing a nod from them both continued, pleased.

"He is currently sedated, although his condition has been improving since he was brought in, he is not able to sleep without the sedative."

Hinata and Sasuke looked at each other uneasily.

She reached into the pocket that was in the front of her medical garb and pulled out what looked like a Konoha ninja headband.

"Tell me, what do you see?" asked the nurse

Both heirs looked carefully at the headband to see a dark crust over the plate of metal and a number of very tiny spikes.

"I-Is that...b-blood?" inquired Hinata

The nurse nodded sadly "yes, the Hokage delivered the boy his headband for graduating the other day, but he was sedated at the time, so he left it in the boys hand as a surprise for when he woke up"

She pauses "When I went in to check on him he was awake, bawling his eyes out with this essentially nailed to his hand"

Hinata gasped "T-That's h-horrible!"

"I agree" muttered Sasuke "That caused it?"

The nurse frowned "Well, that we needed special help to diagnose. The slug Senin Tsunade is in town as per the Hokage's orders, who by the way will see to the burns on your face young sir".

She gestured to Sasuke who nodded slowly.

"So...what is wrong with him then?"

"Nothing" she said and chuckled at their confused expressions.

"What happened was that he awakened a bloodline ability to do with manipulating metal"

"WHAT?!" shouted the two genin in unison.

The nurse laughed again "Well, perhaps you can ask him about it when he wakes up. I must be going now, there are plenty more patients that require my help".

She began walking off before turning back to pass on one final remark.

"You can stay as long as you want within reason, he could use the company" and with that, she continued to another room down the hall.

 

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Hinata and Sasuke looked at each other again, troubled by what they had heard.

Hinata reached for the door first and slowly opened it before stepping in, Sasuke right behind her.

A quick glance around the room showed that all of the monitoring apparatus, as well as the bed Naruto lead on in the middle of the room had all been fixed down or to a surface.

'No doubt to prevent Naruto from moving them in his sleep' thought Sasuke, he remembered being told of the more unstable abilities bloodlines could grant.

"H-Hey" spoke Sasuke, when he noticed Hinata had approached Naruto's side without him.

The two looked down into the face of their friend who was, at present turning in his sleep.

Naruto's heart started to race, as if agitated by their arrival, the monitors struggling to record the sudden jump.

Sasuke could see the look on Hinata's face, and despite the circumstances', let a rare smile show through his normally dismissive façade.

She would never admit it, but it was as plain as the nose on her face that she cared for Naruto.

Perhaps time would tell whether it was simply in repayment for helping her in darkest times, or something more.

In that moment, Sasuke moved his hand to cover hers that were already over Naruto's, as the two wished their friend a swift recovery.

One thing is for certain.

Bonds of absolute trust were laid that day, bonds that would transcend, even death.


	7. 7

Heart of Fire Eyes of Steel  
Chapter 7

One month had passed since Naruto had come to terms with his burden, and The Hokage had announced that this month, he was to conduct a 'cleansing' of sorts to the education system.

Naruto had asked what the Hokage had meant and, when he was politely denied permission, turned to Iruka, who simply looked at him, green in the face and warned the boy against 'getting on the Hokage's bad side.

The aging leader thought it a necessary process.

But, also used it as a time for Naruto, to get a firmer handle on his newly discovered bloodline.

Sure enough, he had at least enough control so that he wouldn't gather cats wandering by his windowsill as he slept.

A definite improvement both Naruto and the Hokage had agreed.

And now, after all that came the time that Genin both looked forward to and dreaded in equal measure.

Team selection.

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All the students had arrived early and taken their seats in the classroom, awaiting the list that would group them together for the early times of their shinobi career.

Iruka Umino was the man to announce the teams as usual, and he could feel the tension right from when he entered the doorframe.

"Good morning students"

Iruka smiled 'Not even a sound'.

"Before we get started, Sasuke Uchiha, you are going to be placed on a new, experimental system this year, and will be assigned to a two man cell with a former Anbu captain.

A number about the room gasped, which Sasuke could tell came from pretty much where all of his fan girls sat.

He looked at his friends, to find them both, Naruto and Hinata looking at him with disappointment shining in their eyes and a frown on their faces.

"Moving on" Iruka arranged his papers "Now then, firstly, under team leader Asuma Sarutobi, is Sakura Hanuro, Chouji Akimichi, and Inari Fujimoto".

He shifted his vision to look at each individual when he called them out.

"Next up, under Kurenai Yuuhi, is Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Ino Yamanaka".

"At last but certainly not least, is under captain Yamato, is Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Naara, and Hinata Hyuga"

He placed his papers down and smiled sincerely to the class.

"Your sensei's will be along shortly to pick you up, so it would be best if you use this time to get to better acquainted with your teammates."

He stood up straight and bowed curtly to his students "It has been truly an honour, and a privilege to work with young minds as bright, and as full of potential as yours. I wish you all the best in the future!"

It was then, that Naruto and Sasuke took it upon themselves to beginning an infectious round of clapping, to which everyone quickly picked up to thank their kindest and most devoted sensei.

 

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The teams had all split off into their individual groups, and team Yamato was no different.

The three Genin had made their way outside to perch on one of the benches by the grass.

"So then" began Shikamaru "It's troublesome, but I guess I'll start!

Shikamaru leant on the back of the bench, crossing his legs resting one upon the other.

"I'm Shikamaru Naara; I'm the heir to the Naara clan. We have strong ties to both the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans.

Both Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"As you may also have realised, I'm often labelled with the term 'lazy' and I love sleeping. My clan uses shadows as weapons and tools etcetera in battle the thing I dislike is noise and loud people. My dream for the future is to become a cloud"

When he had finished he flopped further backward into the bench and let out a large sigh.

Hinata had a baffled look on her face while Naruto just ginned, clearly amused.

'Oh, am I going to have fun with this guy' his old prankster tendencies rearing their heads.

Hinata took this as a sign to introduce herself, seen as she was the only one left to talk, she visibly winced as she thought this, cursing herself to being so blunt and tactless, even though she didn't speak it.

"Um...I-I'm Hinata Hyuga, the Hyuga heiress. I like spending time with my friends and pressing flowers. I dislike people who jump to conclusions and cruel people. My dream is to get stronger so that I can protect my friends".

Shikamaru nodded and glanced at Naruto, who had been scribbling furiously on a sheet of scroll paper, that after looking more closely, could be noticed he had dispensed from one of his pouches full of ninja gear, held in the netting that webbed the inside of his large coat.

When Naruto had finished, he passed the note to Shikamaru, who read it aloud.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I hope you don't get the wrong idea Shikamaru, your reading this because I" he paused before carrying on; a softness adorning his eyes "can't speak.

My dream is to become Hokage, and my favourite things are my friends, learning and ramen. What I don't like, is people who condemn and mistreat others".

It was Shikamaru's turn to look interested now, as he recalled the time that Naruto had stuck up for him and his friend Chouji, the Akimichi heir, by simply staring down the bullies until they fled the scene shouting that he was some 'monster', whatever that meant.

"Very good" interrupted a voice from behind them.

They were however, most puzzled about where the voice had come from.

The tree directly behind them had the vague outline of a person on its surface and two perfectly uncovered eyes stared at them from its trunk.

"Eh'?" thought Shikamaru aloud, voicing the thoughts of both of his new teammates.

Naruto had begun to poke the figure in intrigue; all the while the tree was getting more and more agitated.

"As I was saying" said the figure, as it slowly began to ease its way out of the tree's surface.

Before them, now stood a man in a Jonin flak jacket, and wore the same upper head protection as the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. He also wore a common ninja mask that only extended up to his chin, where it nestled quite snugly.

"Greetings students, I am to be your Jonin sensei, and, as you may have figured out due to this year's squad naming scheme, I am Yamato. Before we begin however, I must say Shikamaru; your reading voice is impeccable".

Shikamaru frowned "Uh, thanks? That's kind of creepy sir..."

Shikamaru then received what was known from then on as 'The Woodsman's Glare'.


End file.
